What Is Happening in Pakistan's Swat Valley?

Posted by Christine Welter May 7, 2009

Pakistan security forces are launching a major operation to eliminate "militants and terrorists" from their stronghold in Swat Valley. Fighting between Taliban militants and Pakistani security forces have forced more than 500,000 people to flee the area this week.

Warren P. Strobel and Margaret Talev (McClatchy Newspapers) report that "the Pakistani government is using heavy-handed military force in Buner district, flattening villages, killing civilians and creating refugees — steps that could further undermine support for the government."

U.S. officials are worry that the Pakistan army will just destroy villages without trying to hold and rebuild the area. The only way to keep the local support is to be able to deliver aid services to the villagers in distress.

In the Swat Valley, also known as the "Switzerland of Pakistan" and a former tourist resort, Islamic militants are enforcing a brutal form of Islamic rule. Earlier this year — in a gesture meant to appease the extremists — the Pakistani government had agreed to a demand by local Islamist leaders to let them implement strict Islamic law. The local leaders in turn had pledged to disarm the fighters. But Taliban extremists continued their advances and officials fear that they might reach Islamabad.

On Wednesday President Obama brought Afghanistan's Hamid Karzai and Pakistan's Asif Zardari together for a meeting in Washington D.C. The U.S. strategy is to get the two countries to confront the Taliban fighting along their border. Marine Gen. James Jones described the three-way meeting among Obama, Karzai and Zardari as "very warm," and said it was "obvious that the two presidents (Karzai and Zardari) got along well (Mc Clatchy Newspapers)." Obama plans to hold such sessions approximately every three months.

SEE ALSO: Can the Taliban Be Defeated in Afghanistan?