Pakistani Army Engages Taliban In Huge Battle In Swat Valley, 15 Taliban Killed

The gunbattle took place near Kharkai hills, in the Lower Dir district. – Photo by AP (File)

I remember a time when the Pakistani military had pretty much driven every Taliban out of the Swat Valley in northwestern Pakistan...but (sigh) ...that was before the military decided to take a year off from conflict and so obviously, the Taliban are back. Today, a group of Pakistani military reached a mountain top area in order to establish an outpost and ended up engaging a throng of Taliban and when the smoke and dust and body parts had settled, 15 Taliban had been killed and one Pakistani soldier was dead.

From the report at DAWN:

At least 15 militants were killed Saturday in a gunfight with troops in a restive northwestern Pakistani district, security officials said.

The day-long gunbattle near Kharkai hills, in the Lower Dir district of the once Taliban-infested Swat Valley, started when troops were approaching a strategic peak to establish a post, a senior security official told AFP.

“More than 15 militants were killed in a clash with security forces,” the official said.

“One soldier was martyred and three others were wounded,” he said. Another security official confirmed the fighting and casualties.

Last week a suicide bomber blew himself up in the same district as mourners gathered on open ground in Jandol town attending funeral prayers.

Hopefully, what the Pakistanis are starting to learn is that the Taliban never really go away...they simply move like a bunch of nomadic assassins...if you clear them out of Swat, then they shift and move over to South Waziristan or another agency....and when you abandon the Swat area, they simply come back. Can you imagine what it is like for the locals? They deal with the iron-fisted rule of the Taliban...they're afraid to come out of their huts and one day the Taliban have cleared out and life returns to normal...and then six months later you hear some noise and here come the Taliban back into the village. Mind boggling what these people will put up with.

Clashes in Lower Dir kills 15 militants


PESHAWAR: At least 15 militants were killed Saturday in a gunfight with troops in a restive northwestern Pakistani district, security officials said.

The day-long gunbattle near Kharkai hills, in the Lower Dir district of the once Taliban-infested Swat Valley, started when troops were approaching a strategic peak to establish a post, a senior security official told AFP.

“More than 15 militants were killed in a clash with security forces,” the official said.

“One soldier was martyred and three others were wounded,” he said. Another security official confirmed the fighting and casualties.

Last week a suicide bomber blew himself up in the same district as mourners gathered on open ground in Jandol town attending funeral prayers.

More than 4,600 people have been killed across Pakistan in attacks blamed on the Taliban and other extremist networks based in the tribal belt since government troops stormed a radical mosque in Islamabad in 2007.

In 2009, 30,000 Pakistani troops went into battle against Taliban fighters who for two years had terrorised people with a campaign of beheadings, violence and attacks on girls’ schools in Swat and parts of Dir.

The army declared the region back under control in July of that year and said the rebels had all been killed, captured or had fled.