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WEEKLY
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| Taliban behead three ‘spies’ in Pacha Killay |
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Sunday, May 31, 2009
By Mushtaq Yusufzai
SULTANWAS (Buner): Amid security forces’ assertion that they have cleared almost 90 per cent of the Buner district of the militants, the Taliban on Saturday beheaded three residents of Pacha Killay for “spying for the Army”.
Besides, the Taliban are stated to be fighting a do-or-die battle in Pacha Killay — the last stronghold of the militants in Buner Valley — as the military was poised to launch a decisive assault on them.
Military officials are quite sure about their success in Buner and seem optimistic about the future.
The well-armed Pakistan Army soldiers and paramilitary Frontier Corps (FC) personnel were now at the doors of Taliban’s final stronghold, the Pacha Killay. The troops were hardly at the distance of 400 metres from the militants’ positions.
Some of the frightened residents who walked out of the Taliban-controlled area told The News that the militants were still patrolling the main Pacha bazaar and the adjoining villages. They said the Taliban stopped all passing vehicles and allowed them after thorough search.
According to the residents, the Taliban were also in control of the shrine of revered Sufi, Syed Ali Termizi, also popularly known as Pir Baba, and the adjoining mosque.
When this correspondent was at a point near Pacha Killay, there was an unusual silence but it was soon broken by heavy gunshots when the militants attacked the nearby security post.
The soldiers retaliated with heavy gunfire, forcing the militants to retreat.
“This is what they do. They come out of their hideouts and fire at the troops and then disappear. They cannot fight but still pose a threat to peace of the area,” remarked a military officer, during an informal chat with this correspondent. The officer said foreign militants, including Uzbeks, Tajiks and Afghans, were still engaged in fighting alongside the local Taliban fighters against security forces in Buner.
A military officer said they were ready to take on the militants and had the capacity of destroying all their hideouts. But, he argued, their hands were tied as in case of any big offensive in the residential area, lives of thousands of people could be at stake.
The local administration reportedly asked the people of several villages to shift their families to safer places, so that security forces could launch decisive offensives in their villages against the Taliban. This would further increase the number of the IDPs.
Fearing human losses, this reporter saw many families fleeing their homes in Pacha Kiallay, Gokand Darra, Qadir Nagar, etc.
Military officials said besides restoration of peace to the region, security forces were also working for developing trust of the war-frightened people of Buner. “We want the people to come back and re-start their routine life in the areas cleared of the militants,” said the military officer.
This (building trust), he felt, helped greatly as majority of the people who had abandoned their villages before the start of the military operation, were now returning to their homes.
The decision by security forces to stop mortar and artillery shelling helped the farmers of majority of villages to harvest their bumper wheat crop.
However, there are still hundreds of unfortunate farmers who fear their crop could go waste if peace was not restored to their villages soon.
Some of the villagers who returned to their homes in Ambela, Cheena, Swarai and Daggar said many more people would like to return from the camps of internally displaced persons (IDPs) if the government restored the power supply and telephone facility to the violence-hit Buner valley.
A military officer said they had already started work on restoration of telephone facility and would repair it within a few days.
However, restoration of power supply may take some time as several electric poles and transformers had been damaged during the military operation.
This correspondent also visited the Sultanwas village where the Taliban had occupied well-furnished bungalows of influential landlords and businessmen, which were flattened during the operation.
Businessman Fateh Khan and his relatives proved to be the big sufferers in the military operation, as their once majestic bungalows no more existed. It is shocking to see these beautifully-built houses now turned into debris.
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ISSN 1563-9479 
