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The Battle of Swat Valley saw Tehreek-e-Nafaz-e-Shariat-e-Mohammadi militants led by Maulana Fazlullah fight Pakistani paramilitary forces to impose Sharia law in the Swat Valley region in late 2007. After a week of heavy fighting that resulted in casualties on both sides, the militants took control of most of Swat district. In response, the Pakistani army deployed over 2,500 troops with air support to defeat the militants by early December, killing around 400 militants. However, militants returned over the next year until early 2009 when the Second Battle of Swat saw the army launch Operation Black Thunderstorm to retake Swat and neighboring regions

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43 views2 pages

Saw at

The Battle of Swat Valley saw Tehreek-e-Nafaz-e-Shariat-e-Mohammadi militants led by Maulana Fazlullah fight Pakistani paramilitary forces to impose Sharia law in the Swat Valley region in late 2007. After a week of heavy fighting that resulted in casualties on both sides, the militants took control of most of Swat district. In response, the Pakistani army deployed over 2,500 troops with air support to defeat the militants by early December, killing around 400 militants. However, militants returned over the next year until early 2009 when the Second Battle of Swat saw the army launch Operation Black Thunderstorm to retake Swat and neighboring regions

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Battle of Swat Valley

By the end of October fighting erupted in the Swat district of the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province, with a large Tehreek-e-Nafaz-e-Shariat-e-Mohammadi force, under the command of Maulana Fazlullah, trying to impose Sharia law. Around 3,000 paramilitary soldiers were sent to confront them. After almost a week of heavy fighting the battle came to a standstill with both sides suffering heavy casualties. Then on November 1 and November 3, 220 paramilitary soldiers and policemen surrendered or deserted after a military position on a hill-top and two police stations were overrun. This left the Tehreek-e-Nafaz-e-Shariat-e-Mohammadi (TNSM) in control of most of the Swat district. The fighting in Swat is the first serious insurgent threat from militia forces in what is known as a settled area of Pakistan. Forces loyal to Maulana Fazlullah, including some foreign fighters, after taking control of a series of small towns and villages, tried to implement strict Islamic law in November 2007. In mid-November the regular army was deployed with the help of helicopter gunships to crush the uprising. The Pakistan Army deployed over 2,500 men. By the beginning of December the fighting had ended and the Army recaptured Swat. Almost 400 of Maulana Fazlullah's fighters were dead along with 15 Pakistani soldiers and 20 civilians in the military offensive.[51] Despite the victory by the Pakistani army, TNSM militants slowly re-entered Swat over the coming months and started engaging security forces in battles that lasted throughout 2008. By early February 2009, the whole district was in Pakistan Army Control.[52]

Second Battle of Swat


Main article: Second Battle of Swat On April 26, 2009, the Pakistani Army started Operation Black Thunderstorm, with the aim of retaking Buner, Lower Dir, Swat and Shangla districts from the Pakistani Taliban after the militants took control of the area since the start of the year. The operation largely cleared the Lower Dir district of militia forces by April 28 and Buner by May 5. On May 5, operations started to retake Swat and later on Shangla. Fighting in Swat was particularly fierce since the Taliban threw away their insurgent tactics and the army their counter-insurgency tactics. Both sides favored more conventional frontline warfare as a means of fighting each other. By May 14, the military was only six kilometers south of Mingora, the milita-held capital city of Swat, and preparations for all-out street fighting was under way. On May 23, the battle for Mingora started and by May 27, 70 percent of the city was cleared of militants. On May 30, the Pakistani military had taken back the city of Mingora from the Pakistani Taliban, calling it a significant victory in its offensive against the militants. However, some sporadic fighting was still continuing on the city's outskirts.[107][108] In all, according to the military, 128 soldiers and more than 1,475 militants were killed and 317 soldiers were wounded during operation Black Thunderstorm. 95 soldiers and policemen were

captured by the militants, 18 of them were rescued while the fate of the others remained undetermined. 114 militants were captured, including some local commanders. At least 23 of the militants killed were foreigners. Sporadic fighting throughout Swat continued up until mid-June. On June 14, the operation was declared over and the military had regained control of the region. Only small pockets of Taliban resistance remained and the military started mopping up operations. This led to a refugee crisis, and by August 22, 1.6 million of 2.3 million have returned home according to UN estimates.[109][110]

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