Pakistan commandos target Taliban leadership

Times:

Hundreds of Pakistani commandos were dropped by helicopter into a mountainous Taleban stronghold in the Swat district yesterday as the Army stepped up its campaign to root out the militants’ top commanders.

Members of the counter-insurgency force landed behind the front line in the Piochar region, about 40 miles from Mingora, the main city in the Swat Valley.

It was the first time that such forces had been involved in fighting since the military offensive began in the valley more than a week ago. “It signifies a major shift in the fighting,” Major-General Athar Abbas, the chief military spokesman, said.

Previous military action has tended to peter out without the capture or deaths of leading insurgents. Past stalemates brought criticism, particularly from the country’s American allies, that the Army was not pursuing the Taleban hard enough. This time, Pakistani leaders say, the Army will not rest until it has wiped out all militants.

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Piochar, 10,000ft (3,050m) above sea level, is regarded as the main base for the militants. “The troops have surrounded the terrorist camps and are closing in on the militants’ command centre,” General Abbas said. Among them, the general said, was Mullah Fazalullah, the leader of the Swat insurgency, and some of his top commanders. “Our main strategy is to block the free movement of the militants and eliminate the entire leadership.”

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Mullah Fazalullah, the long-haired, 34-year-old cleric also known as Mullah Radio for his fiery broadcasts from a pirate station, had declared holy war against the Pakistani Government, calling it un-Islamic.

His hardline brand of Sharia, briefly established in Swat, banned music and education for girls, and his followers destroyed hundreds of girls’ schools.

Although Swat does not border Afghanistan, Mullah Fazalullah has pledged allegiance to Mullah Omar, the spiritual leader of Afghanistan’s Taleban movement. Pakistan says that he has close links to al-Qaeda, and many foreign fighters are believed to have joined the battle for Swat.

The commandos sent to Piochar have been trained under a new programme for fighting in the region’s tough mountainous terrain. They have joined the Frontier Corps, a once neglected Interior Ministry force that now has millions of dollars in American funding and training with some British assistance.

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This report sounds encouraging if the Pakistan army lives up to its intentions. It sounds like a strategic move that could decapitate Taliban leadership in the area. It also promises some tactical elan. It is more likely to be effective than the artillery attacks. Artillery is great against massed enemy forces, but there is little indication that the Taliban will give battle in that way.