Zeenews Bureau
Mingora: Two months after the Pak Army took control of the Swat Valley from Taliban militants, human rights organisations have blamed the military for several mindless killings in the area, claims a report published in a leading US daily.
According to the New York Times report, with the support of the US administration, the Pak Army is running the SWAT region with an iron hand in the absence of a firm political leadership.
The local residents of the SWAT Valley are now living in a reign of terror unleashed by Pakistan Army’s long offensive aimed at cleansing the Taliban militia from the region.
The Human Rights group have alleged that hundreds of bodies of local residents, carrying signs of torture and fatal injuries, have been dumped on the streets.
The Rights group have also alleged that the recovery of mutilated bodies, sudden disappearances of local residents, systematic nature of deaths and bloodshed have compelled the residents, human rights bodies and some Pakistani officials to suspect military’s hand in this terror campaign.
However, the Pak Army has categorically rejected the allegations.
The Army has acknowledged that bodies have turned up, but its spokesmen assert that the killings are the result of civilians settling scores.
“There are no extrajudicial killings in our system,” said Col. Akhtar Abbas, the Army spokesman in Swat. “If something happens, we have a foolproof accountability system.”
However, the neighbours of the victims in the SWAT Valley are not convinced with the clarification given by the Army.
Pakistan’s military operations against the Taliban in Swat, begun in May under public pressure from the United States, has been hailed by Washington as a showcase effort of the Army’s newfound resolve to defeat the militants.
The American ambassador, Anne W. Patterson, visited Mingora, the biggest town in Swat, last week, becoming the first senior American official to go to Swat since the Army took over.
The Human Rights group have shown concerns over the Army’s operation in the area, which threaten to further taint Washington’s association with the military.
The number of killings have indicated that Pakistan Army is determined to silence any enthusiasm for the Taliban and to settle accounts for heavy Army casualties.
A sullen, uncertain atmosphere prevails in Mingora, where people interviewed last week in shops, homes and government institutions nervously complained of the arbitrary and unpredictable Army rule.
Bodies, some with torture marks and some with limbs tied and a bullet in the neck or head, have been found on the roads of Mingora and in rural areas that were militant strongholds.
First Published: Tuesday, September 15, 2009, 13:04