An editorial in a Pakistani daily has said that victory over the Taliban in the Swat and Malakand Divisions of the country's North West frontier Province can only be accepted and certified after it is confirmed that the top leadership of the insurgents is defeated and eliminated.
Islamic courts have started functioning in the Taliban stronghold of Swat in north-western Pakistan as per a peace deal signed by the government with militants in the restive region a month ago.
Heavily armed Taliban on Friday began pulling out from the strategic Buner town and were returning to their bastion in Swat valley after a deal was brokered by hardline cleric Sufi Mohammed, amid intense global pressure on Pakistan over the presence of militants so close to Islamabad.
The security forces have cleared and secured the town of Mingora though they are still encountering pockets of militant resistance on the outskirts, chief military spokesman Major General Athar Abbas was quoted as saying by media reports.
The ground reality is that the government of Pakistan has no choice but make the not-so-fine distinction to save their people getting killed as collateral damage when they fight the Taliban.
Tension continues to simmer in Pakistan's Swat valley with fresh troop build-up while the extremists loyal to pro-Taliban cleric Maulana Fazlullah have released 48 captured soldiers.
Since being ousted of the main towns of the Swat valley during the recent military operation, Maulana Fazlullah-led Taliban are making preparation for new offensive during the month of Ramzan. According to Taliban, the holy warriors always achieved high targets during this month, so they would go all out to retake the valley of Swat.
A key commander of the banned Tehreek-e-Taliban, who was involved in number of attacks on security forces and checkposts in Swat valley, has been arrested in Karachi.
The troops are moving closer to Shangla and consolidating their positions and eliminating the militants before making a push towards Alpuri.
Almost all mosques in villages in Buner district are being used by the Taliban to recruit local residents for their cause of enforcing Sharia or Islamic law in the Malakand division, which includes Swat, and the rest of the country, media reports said on Monday.
A large number of militants led by radical cleric Maulana Fazlullah have fled the Swat valley and adjoining Shangla district in the North West Frontier Province. After more than two weeks of fierce clashes with the security forces, key militant leaders had also gone into hiding, the army said.
'Not only will Pakistan see greater domestic turmoil as a result of the passage of this law, but the new regulation will further aggravate tensions between Islamabad and Washington, complicating Western efforts to combat the Taliban insurgency in Afghanistan,' Stratfor said.
A resurgent Taliban in Pakistan's northwestern Swat valley on Monday vowed to enforce Islamic laws across the country while ruling out the possibility of laying down arms, following the implementation of Sharia in the region.The Sharia or Islamic law regime approved recently by President Asif Ali Zardari will not be confined to Malakand division, which includes Swat, and the Taliban wants the system to be enforced in other parts of Pakistan, Taliban spokesman said.
Pakistani army troops backed by helicopter gunships on Thursday kept up their offensive against armed followers of a pro-Taliban cleric in Swat valley, killing at least 20 militants across the restive region.
The banned Tehrik-e-Taliban Pakistan has admitted for the first time that it is using Afghan soil as a springboard for launching attacks on Pakistani security forces.
Pakistan Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani and army chief General Ashfaq Parvez Kayani on Monday made an unannounced visit to the restive Swat valley where troops are engaged in flushing out Taliban militants.A top-level review of the security situation and the repatriation of the displaced people, uprooted by insurgency, was the highlight of the visit. The visit also assumes significance with reports of the army being on the verge of wrapping up the intensive operation.
Pakistani Taliban have beheaded 12 soldiers captured during a recent attack on a security check post in the restive Bajaur tribal region and released a video showing their severed heads, a militant spokesman said on Friday.
With hardline commander Mullah Fazlullah at its helm, the Pakistani Taliban has vowed to launch a wave of revenge attacks and ruled out talks with the government.
Taliban militants, who had kidnapped a top civil official in the restive Swat valley in North West Frontier Province on Sunday, released him only in exchange for two militants, raising question marks over a peace deal stuck between the militant group and the government. Taliban spokesman Muslim Khan said the official, Kushal Khan, and his guards had been released in exchange for two militants who were arrested in Peshawar last week.
The outlawed Tehrik-e-Taliban Pakistan has defended its attacks on politicians, claiming its fighters were targeting liberal political parties for their secular ideology and support for military operations.
The Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan militants have found sanctuary in Afghanistan's eastern provinces, which are under the Haqqani network's control, reports B Raman
Tehrik-e-Taliban Pakistan chief Hakimullah Mehsud has warned that his fighters were planning orchestrated attacks against the government and the military to wrest control of areas that they had lost in the country's northwest.
The pro-Taliban militants warned the authorities that they would not allow the conduct of elections in the restive Swat district, sources were quoted on Wednesday by The News daily as saying on condition of anonymity.
Malala was dressed in Pakistani salwar kameez and dupatta. She was smiling and looked happy as he was greeted at the airport.
Pakistani Taliban militants based in Afghanistan have threatened fresh attacks in Pakistan that will target anyone supporting the United States and promoting American interests in the region.
The Taliban attacked 14-year-old Malala Yousafzai, a campaigner for girls' rights, because she criticised the Taliban's activities via her blog, reports Tahir Ali.
Although the report could not be confirmed, sources in the Pakistan army said that the troops had intercepted a phone call of Fazlullah, which indicated that he was hiding in Swat.
Taliban has come under tremendous pressure following Pakistan's military action against the militant group in Swat valley and adjoining areas, United States Secretary of State Hillary Clinton said on Sunday.
Pakistan's Taliban leader Maulana Sufi Mohammed has indicated that Tehrik Nifaz Shariat-e-Mohammedi, which signed a peace deal with Pakistan government in restive Swat region, would not wage a struggle for Kashmiris.
Mullah Fazlullah, the militant commander who ordered the assassination of teenage activist Malala Yusufzai, was today named by the Pakistani Taliban as its new chief to replace Hakimullah Mehsud, killed in a US drone strike last week.
Pakistan's Chief of Army Staff General Ashfaq Kayani has promised jobs for former Taliban fighters.
The Pakistan government on Monday scrapped a controversial peace deal signed last month with the Taliban that had been bitterly opposed by the United States but the Taliban militia said it was still holding the truce.
The imposition of emergency in Pakistan has not created any pressure on the Taliban groups operating in Swat district. The radical group has not only announced the imposition of Shariah but also removed national flags from all government buildings in the areas under their control.
A former Pakistan Air Force member-turned Taliban commander has invoked Mahatma Gandhi, Jesus and Lord Buddha in a letter to teen activist Malala Yousufzai, asking her to return home and "use" her pen for Islam.
Pakistani Taliban has warned that boys and girls of its suicide squad will launch "massive" strikes across the country, including the commercial hub of Karachi, if military operation in Swat and other tribal areas are not halted immediately.
The Pakistani Taliban have introduced "moral policing" in parts of northeastern Afghanistan in a bid to enforce their puritanical version of Islam, Afghan police officials have said.
The Pakistani Taliban on Thursday dismissed the military's claims that their chief in the Swat valley was 'critically' wounded, asserting that he was healthy and unhurt in the army operations in the restive region, where troops killed at least two militants in the latest fighting. The Taliban's response came in the wake of the military's recent statement that they had 'credible' information about Maulana Fazlullah being injured in the offensive against militants.
The Taliban in Pakistan's restive Swat valley received US $ 6 million in compensation from the government after agreeing to a ceasefire with security forces for an indefinite period, a media report said on Tuesday.
Moving from street to street, Pakistani troops on Sunday captured several key areas in Swat valley's main town Mingora from Taliban as their offensive to regain the control of the restive tribal region entered the decisive phase.
The Pakistani Taliban on Monday vowed they would again target teenage rights activist Malala Yousafzai, who survived an assassination attempt last year to become a frontrunner for the Nobel Peace prize.
