Pakistan Taliban Burning Schools to Face New Assault

Aug. 12 (Bloomberg) -- Taliban militants are still active in parts of Pakistan’s northwestern Buner district, where they have torched schools, and will face a renewed assault by security forces, the military said.

After a 10-week army campaign in areas northwest of the capital, Islamabad, the military handed control of Buner to civilian officials, claiming success over the militants. It says it has killed about 1,700 Taliban fighters since beginning the offensive in April to take back control of the Swat valley and other districts, including Buner.

“We have reports of Taliban movement in a part of Buner,” military spokesman Athar Abbas said in a phone interview today. “Call it reorganization of Taliban or just movement, the security forces plan to flush them out,” he said. Taliban activity had been reported in about 10 percent of Buner, he said.

The military offensive in the northwest forced more than 2 million people to flee their homes. The refugees started returning last month after the army declared victory. The new assault will be planned by the local administration, Abbas said.

“This hit-and-run strategy by the Taliban will continue until the militants are completely finished from Swat valley and the neighboring tribal area,” said Zafar Nawaz Jaspal, assistant professor of international relations at Quaid-e-Azam University in Islamabad.

Jaspal said the next big target for the army is to “secure tribal areas by eliminating Taliban from there.” The military turned its attention to extremists in these regions along the border with Afghanistan in June.

Mehsud Killing

The violence in Buner comes amidst a propaganda battle between the government and the Taliban over the killing of Baitullah Mehsud, the chief of Tehrik-e-Taliban Pakistan.

Interior Minister Rehman Malik says the government is trying to gather physical evidence that the nation’s No. 1 terrorist was killed in a U.S. missile strike this month, leaving the Taliban leadership in disarray. Mehsud’s deputy, Hakimullah Mehsud, called journalists and analysts two days ago to dismiss claims he and his boss had died.

Mehsud, who said he ordered terrorist bombings in Pakistan, led about 5,000 fighters in the border region with Afghanistan. Pakistan and the U.S. have described his killing as a major victory in their fight against the Taliban.