Word: talibans
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Journalists in Swat speak of an atmosphere of fear in the valley; reporters say they are fearful of speaking out as well, afraid that they will be targeted by Taliban angry over the leak of the video. One journalist, speaking on the condition of anonymity, said, "We are the prime suspects." (Check out a story about Talibanistan...
...viral video is raising an outcry in Pakistan - and highlighting the fact that in some parts of western Pakistan, the government is no longer in charge and the Taliban is. Filmed in the Swat Valley, where the government recently signed a controversial peace deal with the Taliban, the video apparently shows a 17-year-old girl pinned down by as many as three men - among them her brother - while a fourth flogs her repeatedly, chastising her for having an alleged affair. She lets out a shriek with every lash, pleading for mercy. Dozens of men look on, but nobody speaks...
...government's agreement with the Taliban in Swat included the imposition of religious law in the area, a move many legal experts and women's-rights groups had cautioned against. The valley, once a prime destination for Pakistan's honeymooners and hippies, was transformed in recent years into the front line of Pakistan's domestic war on terrorism. More than 1,500 people have been killed there, and at least 100,000 have fled. A cease-fire is now in place in exchange for the imposition of Shari'a law. But reports of the curtailment of women's rights...
Human-rights activists from the region insist that the girl in the video and the countless other victims in Swat are too helpless to speak out. "Who can stop the Taliban when they claim to be working in the name of Islam?" asked Yasmine Khan, program coordinator for the Female Human Rights Organization (FEHRO) for Swat, who recently fled to Islamabad after allegedly receiving death threats by Taliban militants. "Things are out of hand, and the government cannot control things." (See pictures of the front line in the war against the Taliban...
However, the Swat-based Taliban denies that the incident took place in the valley. Several officials and commentators have expressed skepticism that the men performing the punishment in the video were Taliban militants. A local news organization noted that were it up to the Taliban, the victim "would have been shot." The 17-year-old alleged to be in the video now denies that she was the burqa-clad girl beaten in the footage. She failed to appear at Pakistan's Supreme Court for a hearing on Monday...