Word: swatted
(lookup in dictionary)
(lookup stats)
Dates: all
Sort By: most recent first
(reverse)
...pledged fealty to Mullah Omar, the leader of the Afghan Taliban, declared his fondness for al-Qaeda, and waged 'jihad' against U.S. and NATO forces in Afghanistan. A key element of his quarrel with Mehsud was a difference in militant priorities: While Mehsud and his allies in the Swat Valley were principally fighting against the Pakistani military and attacking Pakistani territory, Zainuddin believed that it was wrong to attack fellow Muslims and wanted to focus their fire on Western forces in Afghanistan...
...alliance with Sufi Muhammad, the hard-line cleric it enlisted to broker peace in the Swat Valley earlier this year, proved equally disastrous. Muhammad's politics were well known: during the 1990s he had waged a campaign of violence for the imposition of an austere form of Islamic law in the Swat Valley, and in late 2001, he led hundreds of young men to fight the U.S. invaders in Afghanistan. He had been imprisoned upon his return, and released last year on the condition that he disavowed militancy...
...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...
...militant groups that operate in South Waziristan and the tribal areas, the Pakistan wants to avoid having them all arrayed against it at once, which would drain resources to fight on multiple fronts. Already, there are grave doubts about launching an operation against Baitullah Mehsud when gains made in Swat and neighboring districts have not been consolidated...
...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...