 Taliban fighters are moving back into Swat |
The local Taliban are back in the seven tribal agencies that make up the Federal Administered Tribal Areas (Fata) and in Swat, where the Pakistani army has cleared militants with large-scale offensives.
In some areas those who fled the fighting have returned.
The situation in the region has once again become the focus of international attention - this time because of the recent failed car bomb attack in New York.
The alleged perpetrator, Faisal Shahzad, is reported to have trained with the Taliban in the Waziristan region.
Once again the Pakistani Taliban have begun to murder local leaders, intimidate the population, pose a risk to the security forces, prevent development projects and threaten wider violence.
 |  Pakistan "lacks a coherent strategy" to deal with the Taliban 
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A suicide bomber killed five people in the Swat valley on 1 May, while in April at least six prominent tribal elders were killed outside their homes in the district capital, Mingora, and other towns.
Heavily-armed militants drive through villages on motorbikes to intimidate the population, burn down girls schools and threaten anyone co-operating with the army - often in plain sight of police or army sentries.
Comeback
Such tactics are well-known signs that the Taliban are preparing to make a dramatic comeback in Swat.
Maulana Fazlullah, the Pakistani Taliban leader there, is still alive and in hiding and could reappear at any moment.
Pakistan's army chief, Gen Ashfaq Kayani, has made several trips to the valley to assess the situation.
Swat and adjoining valleys were declared cleared of militants a year ago after heavy fighting and the deployment of some 50,000 troops.
 The Pakistani army had claimed victory in Swat |
And the militants also want revenge on the army.
According to Western and Pakistani officials, the army is holding some 2,500 suspected militants in indefinite detention, because the civil justice system cannot deal with them.
Many of the detainees are from Swat, where Human Rights Watch has also documented some 300 alleged extra-judicial killings by the military over the past year.
Meanwhile in the tribal agencies, the army has announced that it has cleared most areas of militants, with several offensives over the past 18 months.
However, thousands of fighters and their commanders have regrouped in North Waziristan, which the army has left alone.
Offensive
North Waziristan is controlled by the Afghan Taliban leader, Jalaluddin Haqqani, and a Pakistani Taliban leader, Gul Bahadur.
Both claim to attack US forces across the border in Afghanistan but not the Pakistan army.
The US and Nato have urged the army to launch an offensive in North Waziristan but so far it has declined, saying it is over-stretched already.
All but two of some 30 drone missile strikes launched by the US so far this year have been aimed at North Waziristan .
It is here that Faisal Shahzad - who's accused of planting a car bomb to explode in New York last week - is alleged to have received his training in bomb making.
Over the past few months militants in North Waziristan have been infiltrating the other tribal areas and are launching dramatic attacks on army convoys and outposts, as well as suicide attacks and targeted killings of local elders who provide information to the army.
In one of the worst attacks militants ambushed an army convoy near Miranshah in North Waziristan on 23 April killing seven soldiers, wounding 25 and destroying six trucks.
In other attacks, convoys carrying oil and other goods for US bases in Afghanistan have been attacked. There has been fighting in Orakzai, South Waziristan and in the Bajaur tribal agencies.
 The army is struggling to protect fragile supply lines from ambush |
Meanwhile North Waziristan has become the biggest haven for militant groups.
Groups resident there include Central Asians, Chechens, Arabs, Kashmiris and numerous Punjabi groups from southern Pakistan as well as the more regular Pakistani Taliban made up of Pashtun tribesmen.
The local Pakistani Taliban leader Hakimullah Mehsud, who was presumed killed on January in a drone strike, re-emerged last week alive and well, after apparently hiding out in North Waziristan.
There is increasing anarchy in North Waziristan as the authority of Haqqani and others seems to be ignored by the plethora of groups and splinter factions now operating there, especially the ruthless Punjabi militants.
The truth is that there is still no coherent counter-insurgency strategy or doctrine that by now should have been jointly formulated by the Pakistani army and civilian government and should be guiding their actions.
Limbo
In modern counter-insurgency warfare now being pursued by the US and Nato in Afghanistan, there is a phased ''clear, hold, build and transfer'' strategy.
In Pakistan, the army works to clear an area of the insurgents and then hold it.
It is also conducting the reconstruction and never transfers the region to civilian authority. The army is not trained or equipped to carry out the latter two tasks.
In the tribal agencies and Swat the army is dealing with a quarter of a million internal refugees, humanitarian relief, reconstruction, administration, road building and maintaining the food supply lines along routes that are regularly ambushed by militants.
While the government has not offered to take over these civilian tasks, the army has yet to put together a plan to encourage the civilians to do so.
 Hakimullah: alive and at large in North Waziristan |
While Prime Minister Yousuf Gilani has handed over all internal security matters to Gen Kayani, the army has not constituted plans which would encourage civilians to work alongside it while the army offers them protection.
This leaves much of the population in limbo - they dislike the presence of the army but have no choice but to accept their help because there is no civil administration to look after them.
The deteriorating security in North Waziristan is now having a global impact and creating a vast and multi-faceted militant hub. Meanwhile other areas are on the verge of falling back into the hands of the Taliban.
Pakistan's civil and military need to formulate a coherent counter-insurgency strategy to provide security and an administration, so that development can reach the people and the militants can be isolated.
Without such a strategy, an ad hoc approach is leading to an ever-worsening security situation.
Ahmed Rashid is the author of the best-selling book Taliban and, most recently, of Descent into Chaos: How the war against Islamic extremism is being lost in Pakistan, Afghanistan and Central Asia.
Source: DTN News / Telegraph
(NSI News Source Info) LONDON, U.K. - May 10, 2010: The 25-year-old was told that he had completed his training and was also informed he had the ability to fly either the Lynx or Apache helicopters. 
The prince has until his graduation ceremony next Friday to decide which aircraft he would like to specialise in and his preference will be taken into consideration when military commanders make their final decision.
A St James's Palace spokesman said: ''Prince Harry is very pleased. He will give the matter serious consideration over the next few days before inputting his preference.''
Lieutenant Harry Wales served in Afghanistan's Helmand Province as a forward air controller directing air strikes for 10 weeks in 2007-08 and he has made no secret of his wish to return.
The prince, an officer with the Household Cavalry Regiment, changed the direction of his military career and became a pilot to increase his chances of being deployed to the Middle East country.
Harry began his flying training with the Army Air Corps in January last year and has been working hard to complete the course.
Speaking last June about his flying training, he said: "I'm really enjoying it and, as everyone knows, it's my easiest way of getting back to the front line. Maybe safer, maybe not, I don't know."
He added: "To get out to Afghanistan again would be fantastic and my best chance is to do it from a helicopter."
Harry has been training with the Army Air Corps (AAC) at its base in Middle Wallop, Hampshire, flying the Squirrel helicopter.
He will have spent more than 90 hours in the air during the 22- week course.
He successfully completed its final handling test yesterday and earlier in the week finished the "course final exercise".
A St James's Palace spokesman said: "Instructors assessed Prince Harry as capable of being an Apache or a Lynx pilot."
The choice before the prince is one of two extremes.
The Apache is a fearsome attack helicopter and one of the most advanced military aircraft in the world. UK forces in Helmand Province have employed the aircraft to hunt and kill Taliban fighters, gather intelligence and provide cover for larger Chinook helicopters transporting troops and vital supplies.
The Lynx is a versatile machine which is used for reconnaissance, as an aerial vantage point for commanders during battles, and to transport troops.
The Army's 22 Lynxes are currently being upgraded to Mk9A standard so they can support British forces on the front line in the blisteringly hot conditions of an Afghan summer.
Speaking about the prince's helicopter choice, the spokesman added: "As with any other pilot, Prince Harry's preferences will be taken into account by the chain of command, which will make its final decision about aircraft type ahead of next Friday's graduation ceremony."
Harry's father, the Prince of Wales, who is the AAC's Colonel in Chief, will present him with his provisional wings at the event being held at Middle Wallop.
Harry will begin his "conversion to type" training once a decision has been made about which helicopter he will fly.
f the victory of the Great Patriotic War over Nazi Germany.
He said the celebrations were wonderful and splendid, fully testifying to the strength of thepeace-loving Russian people in building their country.
Medvedev said Russia and China shared similar views on the history of World War II, and the attendance of the two heads of states at the celebrations was of great significance.
The Chinese president said both sides should promote cooperation in trade and energy, as well as people-to-people and cultural exchanges, adding the two countries should implement in earnest the summer camp program that will bring 1,000 Russian middle and primary school students to China.
Hu brought forward a four-point proposal for boosting China-Russia strategic coordination.
First, both countries should strengthen their coordination and cooperation in theinstitutionalization of the Group of 20, seek greater say for the two countries in international affairs and uphold their just rights and interests and those of the developing countries.
Secondly, both countries should keep close communication, and help maintain regional peace and stability.
Thirdly, both sides should enhance cooperation in fighting terrorism, as well as the "three forces," namely extremism, separatism and terrorism.
And fourthly, both countries should strengthen coordination and cooperation in such major international issues as climate change and energy security.
Medvedev shared Hu's views on further boosting bilateral relations, saying that Russia was ready to strengthen cooperation with China in economy and trade, science and technology, energy, culture, and regional affairs.
The Russian president said both sides should make joint efforts to make the "Year of the Chinese Language" in Russia a success, regarding it as a major task for bilateral cultural cooperation this year.
Medvedev congratulated China over the grand opening of the Shanghai World Expo, and voiced his expectation to attend Russia's National Pavilion Day at the Expo.
The meeting was the second between the two leaders in less than a month. Hu and Medvedev met in Brasilia on April 15 on the sidelines of a summit of the BRIC nations -- Brazil, Russia, India and China.
On Sunday, Hu and other leaders took part in a series of celebrating activities, including a military parade at the Red Square, a wreath-laying ceremony at the Tomb of the Unknown Soldiers, and a banquet hosted by President Medvedev.
The parade, which was accompanied by over 50 Russian and foreign military orchestras, was divided into the military personnel's march, the parade of military armaments on the ground and in the sky.
More than 10,000 personnel, 159 military armaments, 127 aircraft and helicopters participated in the Red Square parade.
On Saturday, Hu called for further strengthening of China-Russia ties while meeting with some Russian soldiers who helped China battle Japanese aggressor troops in the World Anti-Fascist War.
During his meeting with the Russian veterans, Hu said the Chinese people would never forget the Soviet Red Army's contributions to the success of China's Anti-Japanese War.
Many Russian soldiers and citizens sacrificed their lives for the liberation of the Chinese people, he said.
Fighting together against the fascists, the Chinese and Russian people forged a profound friendship, he added.
"The friendship cemented with blood and people's lives lays a solid foundation for the China-Russia strategic relations of cooperation and partnership," Hu said.
Hu also called for a correct view of history, saying the Soviet Union and China's contributions to victory in the World Anti-Fascist War are "ironclad."
The Chinese president returned to Beijing Monday morning after attending the celebrations in Moscow.
The parade, which started at 10.00 Moscow time [06.00 GMT] and continued for about an hour and a half, was the biggest military parade in Russia since the collapse of the Soviet Union.
A total of 127 aircraft divided in 20 groups took part in a ceremonial flyover.
Su-25 ground support aircraft and MiG-29 fighters flew in a setup formation resembling number 65 in reference to the anniversary.
Other aircraft displayed during the parade included Il-76 and An-124 military transport planes, accompanied by multirole Su-27 fighters, Il-78 aerial tankers, an A-50 AWACS plane, Tu-95MS Bear and supersonic Tu-160 Blackjack strategic bombers.
Russia's Yak-130 combat trainers, Su-34 multirole strike aircraft and Mi-26 heavy transport helicopters flew over the Kremlin for the first time.
A large helicopter group included Mi-24, Mi-28 and Ka-50 attack helicopters, and Mi-8 transport helicopters.
Victory Day on May 9 marks the final surrender by Nazi Germany to the U.S.S.R. in WWII, which is often referred to as the Great Patriotic War in Russia and other states from the former Soviet Union.
