Word: fazlullah
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...head off the prospect of Swat falling to Taliban fighters loyal to Maulana Fazlullah, Muhammad's son-in-law, the government tasked Muhammad with urging his former disciple to lay down arms in exchange for the government's implementation of Islamic law in the area. It soon emerged, however, that the Taliban had no intention of laying down arms, but instead sought to extend its reach, and Sufi Muhammad turned out to be an active enabler of their advance...
...also remains to be seen how well Pakistan's military will be able to sustain simultaneous fighting on two fronts. While it has claimed a flurry of successes in the Swat valley and two neighboring districts, a decisive victory has not taken place. Maulana Fazlullah, the leader of the Swat Taliban, and other members of his leadership have not been eliminated - a declared priority. Last year, when fighting intensified against militants in the Bajaur tribal agency, the military's campaign faltered in Swat. And over recent months, as the focus reverted to Swat, a failure to consolidate gains in Bajaur...
...propaganda machinery extends beyond the borders of Afghanistan. In Pakistan's Swat Valley, Mullah Qazi Fazlullah, a firebrand Taliban cleric known as "Mullah Radio," has used unlicensed FM stations to effectively paralyze the former resort area, now under militant control. Last week, an editorial from the The News International, a leading English daily, called the Pakistani government's failure to "evolve a counter-narrative to the Taliban propaganda" that fills airwaves and newspaper columns a "dereliction of the highest order...
...columnist Amir, Aziz's release is yet another addition to the devastating problems that plague Pakistan. Aziz, he says, has become an iconic figure far more threatening than the shadowy leaders of the Taliban movement. "When you talk of Baitullah Mehsud, Fazlullah or Mangal Bagh, these are guys whose aims are known, but they are just mysterious figures living far away in the mountains. Aziz is here, right in the capital. He will be an inspirational figure for all the jihadi elements...
...ropes in Bajaur and says the truce there is simply to give Taliban members an opportunity to surrender their weapons. The cease-fire in Swat, however, comes at a moment when four-fifths of the area is under the control of the forces of local jihadist Maulana Fazlullah, which have yet to lay down their weapons. Indeed, when the new government administrator took his post in the area on Sunday, he was kidnapped by local Taliban forces and held hostage to secure the release of a handful of their imprisoned comrades. Military officials say the level of civilian casualties...