World News | Pak Defence Minister Raises Concern over Militancy in Swat District

Islamabad, Oct 19 (PTI) Pakistan Defence Minister Khawaja Asif on Wednesday raised concern over the threat of militancy in the country's north-western district of Swat, warning that the "fire" in the area can "reach everyone, including me".

Swat, a district in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province, is known as the ‘Switzerland of Pakistan' due to its lush-green valleys and snow-capped mountains. It went through a grueling period of terrorism from 2007 and 2009 until the rebels were defeated and expelled. Nobel Peace Prize lauriate, Malala Yousafzai, a child rights activist then, was attacked by terrorists in 2012 in Swat.

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But instead of laying down arms, most of the militants fled to Afghanistan.

Now there are disturbing reports of the return of militants to the district after the Taliban took control of Afghanistan.

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The residents in Swat are regularly taking to the streets to express their anger against the failure of the government to stop the return of militants.

The issue reverberated in the National Assembly when Asif expressed his concern about the security situation in Swat with its grave consequences for the entire country.

“The same process has started in Swat after about a dozen years. The fire (of militancy) there can reach everyone including me. The people of Swat have come together. We should sit together to solve the issues,” Asif said.

The minister said that still, the situation has not reached the "same gravity and velocity" as more than a decade ago when people used to say that “those in Swat may not be too far away from Islamabad”.

Asif urged for measures to counter the threat of militancy while extolling the people of Swat who had come out and were united against extremists without any discrimination or political differences.

Climate Change Minister Sherry Rehman lashed out at violent elements for “hiding their nefarious designs behind religion” and posing a threat. “Sorry, it is only a fight for power. It is not a fight for religion, and (you should) have the guts to say it,” she said

She also compared the situation in Swat with that in neighbouring Afghanistan prior to the end of a 20-year-long war. “What is happening in Pakistan is not an insurgency; it is terrorism,” she said.

She demanded that “everyone should be taken into confidence on the progress of operations” against terrorism as Pakistan paid a big price for its fighting against terrorism in the past.

The minister also criticised talks with the Tehreek-i-Taliban Pakistan under their conditions and demanded that talks should be held only with those who lay down arms.

The TTP, also known as the Pakistan Taliban, was set up as an umbrella group of several militant outfits in 2007. Its main aim is to impose its strict brand of Islam across Pakistan.

The group, which is believed to be close to Al-Qaeda, has been blamed for several deadly attacks across Pakistan, including an attack on army headquarters in 2009, assaults on military bases and the 2008 bombing of the Marriott Hotel in Islamabad.

The Pakistani government and the TTP agreed in June to extend a ceasefire indefinitely while continuing negotiations to find an end to the nearly two decades of militancy.

Though the outlawed militant outfit agreed to a ceasefire, it had said that it would not back down from its demand for the reversal of the merger of erstwhile Federally Administered Tribal Areas with the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KPK) province.

The issue of violence in Balochistan also came under discussion with Balochistan National Party-Mengal (BNP-M) chief Sardar Akhtar Mengal recounted various incidents in which, he alleged, innocent people were killed and presented as terrorists.

The BNP-M leader said the issue had plagued Balochistan for a long, warning that most of the youth in Balochistan had reached “a point of no return''.

“You may be able to end who you call terrorists through such tactics, but the seeds of hatred that you are sowing cannot be perished by any atomic power of the world,” he said.

Defence Minister Asif in response said that there were problems and ignoring them would be harmful to any nation. He called for measures to address the problem that has existed for years.

(The above story is verified and authored by Press Trust of India (PTI) staff. PTI, India’s premier news agency, employs more than 400 journalists and 500 stringers to cover almost every district and small town in India.. The views appearing in the above post do not reflect the opinions of LatestLY)