Pakistan Rebuilds - Slowly - Months After Historic Floods

In Pakistan, rebuilding efforts are still underway from last year's devastating floods that submerged one-fifth of the country and displaced some 20 million people.

Mujeeb Ur Rehman, reporter for VOA's Pashto-language Deewa radio service, recently traveled to northwest Pakistan to check on the status of those efforts. Rehman spoke with VOA's Barry Newhouse about what he saw in Swat Valley and how flood relief may have helped changed local opinions about the Taliban.When you are traveling through these areas that have been hit by the floods, can you still see a lot of destruction? Or, have roads and bridges been rebuilt?
"Most of the important bridges which connect one area to another, they were rebuilt. But the work is ongoing, it has not been finished yet. Some places are still blocked by rubble and in other places the roads are blocked by new construction materials where people are rebuilding their houses. People are rebuilding, but they are still struggling hard."This is an area of Pakistan that has seen a fair amount of fighting in recent years. The Taliban took over Swat in 2008, and a year later the government sent troops in to push them out. What impact did the floods have on the government’s struggle with the Taliban.
"Well, when I was in Pakistan, I saw the local population they used to hate the NGOs [non-governmental organizations]. They did not accept the role of NGOs. They were pushed by the Taliban not to accept the NGOs. This was before the floods. In Swat, people were brainwashed by the Taliban and the local mullahs that the NGOs would come and they would liberate your lives and get your women out of your houses and they will work and this and that. But after [the floods] the NGOs played a very important role in helping them in their [relief] camps, giving them water and food and shelter, everything they needed.So, I saw that most of the people now in Swat and also in Charsaddda and Nowshera and other suburban parts of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province, they are now trusting the NGOs. The NGOs are helping more than the government. In Swat, I saw that there is no more control of Taliban because I could see the Pakistani army men roaming around the markets of Swat freely. It was a bit surprising for me because when I was here before, I thought it would not be that easy to roam around. But locals say that it’s typical to see soldiers in the marketplace. The Taliban still are there, but they only carry out guerilla tactics now. They come and hit and then they go."

Are those kinds of attacks are still happening?
"Yes, it’s still happening in Swat, in the suburban areas of Peshawar. They occasionally still hit big targets, but overall, the government is in better control because most of the attacks have been in the outskirts of the cities."