(NSI News Source Info) February 22, 2009: Taliban fighters have agreed a "permanent ceasefire" in Pakistan's northwestern Swat valley, a senior government official said on Saturday.
The announcement was made one day after Taliban commander Maulana Fazlullah held talks with his father-in-law, Maulana Sufi Mohammad, a radical Muslim cleric freed by the government to negotiate peace in the valley.
Supporters of Pro-Taliban cleric Sufi Muhammad march in Swat's main city of Mingora on Wednesday, Feb. 18, 2009 in Pakistan. A hardline cleric led hundreds of supporters in a peace march in Pakistan's Swat Valley on Wednesday aimed at convincing Taliban militants to lay down their weapons under a pact with the government.
Here are some facts about the Taliban insurgency there.
* Islamist militancy emerged in Swat, an alpine beauty spot, in the 1990s when Maulana Sufi Mohammad took up arms to impose sharia law in Swat and neighbouring areas of Malakand, Dir as well as in the Bajaur tribal region on the Afghan border.
* Mohammad was arrested after he returned to Pakistan having led thousands of fighters to Afghanistan in 2001 in a vain attempt to help the Taliban resist U.S.-backed forces.
* Pakistani authorities released him in 2008 in a bid to defuse another uprising that broke out in late 2007, this time led by his son-in-law Maulana Fazlullah, who has ties with other Pakistani Taliban factions and al Qaeda.
* Fazlullah called his men to arms after a military assault began on the Red Mosque in Islamabad in mid-2007 to put down a armed movement that was seeking to impose Islamic law in the capital. Fazlullah used illegal FM radio to propagate his message and became known as Mullah Radio.
* The Pakistan Army deployed troops in Swat in October 2007 and used artillery and gunship helicopters to reassert control. But insecurity mounted after a civilian government came to power a year ago and tried to reach a negotiated settlement.
* A peace accord fell apart in May. Since then hundreds of people, including soldiers, militants and civilians have been killed in battles.
* Militants unleashed a reign of terror, killing and beheading politicians, singers, soldiers and opponents. They have banned female education and destroyed nearly 200 girls' schools.
* Around 1,200 people have been killed since late 2007 and between 250,000 and 500,000 people have fled the valley, leaving the militants in virtual control.
* Pakistan offered on Feb. 16 to introduce Islamic law in Swat valley and neighbouring areas of the northwest in a bid to take the steam out of the Taliban insurgency.
* Under Nizam-e-Adl or Islamic system of justice, all judicial laws contrary to Islamic teachings stand cancelled and the courts will decide cases in line with Islamic injunctions.
* Unlike the Taliban courts, which have been summarily handing out severe punishments like chopping off hands of thieves and stoning to death adulterers and rapists, there will be a system of appeal on the decisions handed out by courts in Swat and neighbouring districts. Ordinary judges, with a knowledge of Islam, will officiate and analysts said the courts are unlikely to hand down Taliban-like sentences.
Supporters of Pro-Taliban cleric Sufi Muhammad march in Swat's main city of Mingora on Wednesday, Feb. 18, 2009 in Pakistan. A hardline cleric led hundreds of supporters in a peace march in Pakistan's Swat Valley on Wednesday aimed at convincing Taliban militants to lay down their weapons under a pact with the government.
Here are some facts about the Taliban insurgency there.
* Islamist militancy emerged in Swat, an alpine beauty spot, in the 1990s when Maulana Sufi Mohammad took up arms to impose sharia law in Swat and neighbouring areas of Malakand, Dir as well as in the Bajaur tribal region on the Afghan border.
* Mohammad was arrested after he returned to Pakistan having led thousands of fighters to Afghanistan in 2001 in a vain attempt to help the Taliban resist U.S.-backed forces.
* Pakistani authorities released him in 2008 in a bid to defuse another uprising that broke out in late 2007, this time led by his son-in-law Maulana Fazlullah, who has ties with other Pakistani Taliban factions and al Qaeda.
* Fazlullah called his men to arms after a military assault began on the Red Mosque in Islamabad in mid-2007 to put down a armed movement that was seeking to impose Islamic law in the capital. Fazlullah used illegal FM radio to propagate his message and became known as Mullah Radio.
* The Pakistan Army deployed troops in Swat in October 2007 and used artillery and gunship helicopters to reassert control. But insecurity mounted after a civilian government came to power a year ago and tried to reach a negotiated settlement.
* A peace accord fell apart in May. Since then hundreds of people, including soldiers, militants and civilians have been killed in battles.
* Militants unleashed a reign of terror, killing and beheading politicians, singers, soldiers and opponents. They have banned female education and destroyed nearly 200 girls' schools.
* Around 1,200 people have been killed since late 2007 and between 250,000 and 500,000 people have fled the valley, leaving the militants in virtual control.
* Pakistan offered on Feb. 16 to introduce Islamic law in Swat valley and neighbouring areas of the northwest in a bid to take the steam out of the Taliban insurgency.
* Under Nizam-e-Adl or Islamic system of justice, all judicial laws contrary to Islamic teachings stand cancelled and the courts will decide cases in line with Islamic injunctions.
* Unlike the Taliban courts, which have been summarily handing out severe punishments like chopping off hands of thieves and stoning to death adulterers and rapists, there will be a system of appeal on the decisions handed out by courts in Swat and neighbouring districts. Ordinary judges, with a knowledge of Islam, will officiate and analysts said the courts are unlikely to hand down Taliban-like sentences.
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