PESHAWAR: The ‘bitter experience’ of Taliban rule has hardened the local population, who are now willing to accept a higher degree of collateral damage as a price for the security forces wiping out extremist elements from Swat district.
“We will rebuild our homes, but would not want to see the presence of even a single Talib after this operation,” displaced residents of Mingora said upon their arrival in Peshawar on Friday.
Public hope for a decisive military offensive against the Taliban received a big boost with Prime Minister Yousaf Raza Gilani’s announcement on Thursday calling for the army to crush the Swat Taliban.
“With almost 100 percent public support for the military operation it doesn’t stand to reason to see that at the end of the day the target – flushing out the Taliban – is not achieved. We would see fault with no other institution than the military if the targets remains unachieved,” the terrified residents spoke to Daily Times on condition of anonymity.
Afzal Khan Lala, who is seen as symbol of resistance against the Taliban, has no doubt about the army’s ability to do the job against the Swat Taliban. “There is no such force in the country which our army cannot dismantle, provided it shows the commitment to do so,” he told Daily Times from his hospital bed in Islamabad.
He said it “makes no difference who brings peace to Swat, and there is no other way out than employing deterrence, as all other options have already been exhausted. The people of Swat want peace and are least bothered about the price.”
Military experts say the price can be high as urban warfare causes considerable collateral damage.
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