Non-Subscriber Extract
Pakistan boosting troop deployment in restive province
25 October 2007
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Pakistani military spokesman Major General Waheed Arshad said on 23 October that more than 2,000 troops had been deployed to the Swat valley in North West Frontier Province (NWFP), approximately 50 km north of the provincial capital Peshawar. |
Troops were initially sent to the valley region in the middle of the year, but the latest deployment signifies that the military is planning a phased operation against militants in Swat, which has since July, following the storming of the Lal Masjid mosque in Islamabad, witnessed a rising number of attacks targeting military and security personnel. In particular, since mid-July, when a suicide attack against a military convoy in Matta town in Swat killed 16 soldiers, there has been a rising number of suicide bombings.
Indeed, parts of Swat have fallen under the sway of radical militants in recent years. In addition to Swat, militants identifying themselves as Pakistani Taliban appear to have become active in other settled, non-tribal districts of NWFP such as Tank, Dera Ismail Khan, Bannu, Hangu and Karak among others.
FORECAST |
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Over the short to medium term, the continuing violence and ensuing deterioration of the security environment in the FATA is likely to increasingly spread into the non-tribal parts of NWFP. This trend, exacerbated by the government's forthcoming military operation in Swat, is likely to lead to an escalation in kidnappings, beheadings and suicide attacks targeting Pakistan's military personnel. |