The First Battle of Swat, also known as Operation Rah-e-Haq, was fought between
Pakistan
Pakistan ( ur, ), officially the Islamic Republic of Pakistan ( ur, , label=none), is a country in South Asia. It is the world's List of countries and dependencies by population, fifth-most populous country, with a population of almost 24 ...
and the Tehrik-i-Taliban in late 2007 over control of the
Swat District
Swat District (, ps, سوات ولسوالۍ, ) is a district in the Malakand Division of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Pakistan. With a population of 2,309,570 per the 2017 national census, Swat is the 15th-largest district of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa prov ...
of Pakistan.
The battle began on 25 October 2007 and involved the
Pakistani Army
The Pakistan Army (, ) is the land service branch of the Pakistan Armed Forces. The roots of its modern existence trace back to the British Indian Army that ceased to exist following the Partition of British India, which occurred as a result ...
and TTP-led forces in a fight for control of the
Swat
In the United States, a SWAT team (special weapons and tactics, originally special weapons assault team) is a police tactical unit that uses specialized or military equipment and tactics. Although they were first created in the 1960s to ...
district of Pakistan. From 25 October 2007, to 7 November 2007, the militants quickly seized control of the region. On 15 November 2007, a Pakistani offensive commenced.
Battle
First phase – Taliban occupy Swat
On 24 October, more than 3,000 Pakistani infantry troops were sent to Swat to confront
Taliban
The Taliban (; ps, طالبان, ṭālibān, lit=students or 'seekers'), which also refers to itself by its state (polity), state name, the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan, is a Deobandi Islamic fundamentalism, Islamic fundamentalist, m ...
forces that were massing in the district in a bid to impose their version of
Sharia
Sharia (; ar, شريعة, sharīʿa ) is a body of religious law that forms a part of the Islamic tradition. It is derived from the religious precepts of Islam and is based on the sacred scriptures of Islam, particularly the Quran and the H ...
law in the valley that included preventing women's education, death penalty for barbers, music shop owners, and thieves, along with an anti Polio-vaccination campaign to prevent the local population from getting vaccinated. The Pakistani infantry troops deployed to the hill-tops of the rugged terrain. On 25 October, heavy fighting started with a suicide bomber attacking a paramilitary truck and killing 17 soldiers and 13 civilians. Fighting erupted in the hills with Taliban forces attacking military posts and the military attacking Taliban mountain hideouts. By 31 October, the military reported that up to 130 militant fighters were killed, however the next day about 700 militants overran a police position on a hill in Khwazakhela. Police forces in Matta were completely surrounded by the end of the day. The Taliban also overran the nearby town of Khwazakhela, thus taking two police stations and took a large arsenal of weapons that was in them. There was no major fighting until 7 November, when the Taliban continued their advance and took the town of Madyan. The police there also gave up their weapons, vehicles and control of local police stations. The insurgents occupied the floodplain side of the broad Swat river, which sweeps up towards the Hindu Kush mountains, while the remaining Pakistani infantry troops held the road that follows the steep, forested hills. This left the Taliban in control of most of the Swat district and by then they had already set up their own local 'governors' in Tehsil Kabal, Matta and Khawazkhela.
Second phase – Battle for Shangla, Pakistani offensives
On 12 November, 5,000 soldiers belonging to 12th Regular Army were deployed to Swat to bolster the already 15,000 para-military and police that were already fighting to keep what ground of the district they still held. The Pakistan Army mounted a number of operations to counter the militants and their expanse. However, on 15 November, militants advanced from Swat, which was now under their control, into the next district to the east, Shangla. That day
Alpuri
Alpuri ( ur, , ps, الپوری) is the capital of Shangla District in the Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa province of Pakistan. It is located at and has an average elevation of 1587 meters. The place has a government degree college and District headquarte ...
, which is the district headquarters of Shangla, fell to the Taliban insurgents. As the militant force was coming towards the town the police force deserted without a fight. The military quickly turned the focus of their operations now not to take back Swat but to keep Shangla. By 17 November, an estimated 100 militants were killed in the fighting. On 25 November, Taliban forces decided to leave Alpuri because of the huge Pakistani infantry forces moving towards the area. The Taliban evacuated Alpuri and took up positions on the mountaintops around the town. Meanwhile, in Swat on 26 November, Pakistani artillery resulted in the death of two top Taliban commanders. With artillery fire and ground forces, the Pakistani Army tried to recapture many strategic hilltops from the Taliban and indeed, they managed to capture some of the hilltops and drove the Taliban back to the Swat district. The fighting for the hilltops left 4 Pakistani soldiers and 45 Taliban forces. On 27 November, Pakistani forces secured Shangla.
Third phase
Pakistani forces had retaken the Shangla district, but pockets of Swat were still in the hands of the insurgents. By 27 November, Pakistani ground forces were not able to reach Matta, Khwazakhela, Charbagh and other sensitive areas occupied by militants. The security forces concentrated on Imam Dehri, the native village of Maulana Fazlullah, and nearby Kuza Banda, Bara Banda and Nigwalai. Once fighting commenced, most insurgents retreated to nearby areas. The highest peak in the Kabal district was retaken and other recent gains were consolidated.
After suffering colossal losses, the militants in Swat vacated all seized police stations and other government buildings by 28 November and decided to go underground while the government closed down all FM radio channels in the district, including the one run by Maulana Fazlullah.
Also on 28 November, the Pakistan Army had cleared Imam Dehri, the headquarters of Maulana Fazlullah's seminary, and police resumed their normal duty in Alpuri, the district headquarters of Shangla. Around 50 militants were killed in four days of fighting. The militants vacated Matta, Khwazakhela and Madyan police stations and fled to nearby forests. They also left the Charbagh police post in Khwazakhela, their stronghold about 27 km from Mingora. Police and troops were yet to enter the areas, as pounding of suspected militant positions continued and specialists were called in to sweep the area for
mines and
booby traps
A booby trap is a device or setup that is intended to kill, harm or surprise a human or another animal. It is triggered by the presence or actions of the victim and sometimes has some form of bait designed to lure the victim towards it. The trap m ...
.
On 5 December, the Pakistan army entered and took full control of the town of Matta, followed by the capture of the towns of Khwazakhela and Imam Dehri on 6 December. Imam Dehri was the previous home of Maulana Fazlullah and his radio station.
Subsequent Operations
In between,
Pakistan Army
The Pakistan Army (, ) is the Army, land service branch of the Pakistan Armed Forces. The roots of its modern existence trace back to the British Indian Army that ceased to exist following the partition of India, Partition of British India, wh ...
launched various military operations to defeat the Taliban militants. Operation Rah-e-Haq-II was launched in July 2008 as the first infantry division was deployed . This time the military operation was led by both
Air Force
An air force – in the broadest sense – is the national military branch that primarily conducts aerial warfare. More specifically, it is the branch of a nation's armed services that is responsible for aerial warfare as distinct from an a ...
and
Army
An army (from Old French ''armee'', itself derived from the Latin verb ''armāre'', meaning "to arm", and related to the Latin noun ''arma'', meaning "arms" or "weapons"), ground force or land force is a fighting force that fights primarily on ...
. The operation was relied on both air power as well as heavy artillery. Soon the Taliban Forces, led by
Faqir Mohammed
Maulvi Faqir Mohammed (Pashto/Urdu: ; 1970) is an Islamist militant and, until March 2012, a deputy leader of the Pakistani Taliban umbrella group Tehrik-i-Taliban Pakistan. He was reported as killed on 5 March 2010 during a helicopter gunsh ...
, started playing havoc in
Bajaur Agency
Bajaur District ( ps, باجوړ ولسوالۍ, ur, ) is a district in Malakand Division of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province in Pakistan. Until 2018, it was an agency of the Federally Administered Tribal Areas, then during restructuring that merged ...
. So the Army started
Operation Sherdil.
The Army launched Operation Rah-e-Haq-III in January 2009 to secure the main supply lines and consolidate
Swat District
Swat District (, ps, سوات ولسوالۍ, ) is a district in the Malakand Division of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Pakistan. With a population of 2,309,570 per the 2017 national census, Swat is the 15th-largest district of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa prov ...
.
Frontier Corps
The Frontier Corps ( ur, , reporting name: FC), are a group of paramilitary forces of Pakistan, operating in the provinces of Balochistan (Pakistan), Balochistan and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, to maintain law and order while overseeing the country's ...
infantry troops provided help to four army infantry brigades. The last week of January saw intensive aerial and artillery bombing. The forces regained
Mingora
Mingora ( ps, مینګورہ, ur, ) is a city in the Swat District of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Pakistan. Located on the Swat River, it is the 3rd largest city in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and the 26th largest in Pakistan. Mingora is the largest city and t ...
and were poised to push the Taliban out of the district when
Sufi Muhammad
Sufi Muhammad bin Alhazrat Hassan (1933 – 11 July 2019) was a Pakistani cleric and Sunni Salafi Islamist militant, the founder of Tehreek-e-Nafaz-e-Shariat-e-Mohammadi (TNSM), a militant group (declared a terrorist outfit and banned in 2002) ...
was released and
Shariah was introduced in Swat and Malakand. The government seemed confident of the outcome of the peace deal. However, it was later proved to be a setup by government to deceive Taliban.
When the situation went out of hand as predicted, the provincial government requested the center to ask the Army to provide help, built nation support across this phenomenon and evacuate almost 2 million civilians from Sawat Valley to conduct an all out operation against the Taliban.
Aftermath
Despite the victory by the Pakistani army, Taliban militants slowly re-entered Swat over the following months and started engaging security forces in battles that lasted throughout 2008. By early February 2009, the Taliban had managed to regain control of most of Swat and at least 80 percent of the district was under their control.
February 2009 ceasefire
The Pakistani government announced on 16 February 2009 that it would allow the
Sharia law
Sharia (; ar, شريعة, sharīʿa ) is a body of religious law that forms a part of the Islamic tradition. It is derived from the Five Pillars of Islam, religious precepts of Islam and is based on the Islamic holy books, sacred scriptures o ...
under the government's supervision with a sharia courts set up by the Government of Pakistan under the Shariat appellate bench of the Supreme court in the Malakand region. In return, Fazlullah's followers agreed to observe a ceasefire negotiated by
Sufi Muhammad
Sufi Muhammad bin Alhazrat Hassan (1933 – 11 July 2019) was a Pakistani cleric and Sunni Salafi Islamist militant, the founder of Tehreek-e-Nafaz-e-Shariat-e-Mohammadi (TNSM), a militant group (declared a terrorist outfit and banned in 2002) ...
.
[BBC News - Pakistan agrees Sharia law deal]
/ref> But the government of Pakistani president Asif Ali Zardari later changed the agreement to allow the right of appeal to the supreme court of Pakistan (a secular institution observing the Pakistani penal code based on English common law) on verdicts issues by the Shariat court which was unacceptable to the TNSM and would be the precursor to the Second Battle of Swat
The Second Battle of Swat also known as Operation Rah-e-Rast, began in May 2009 and involved the Pakistani Army and Tehrik-i-Taliban Pakistan militants in a fight for control of the Swat district of Pakistan. The first Battle of Swat had ended ...
;Reactions to the Ceasefire:
* NATO
The North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO, ; french: Organisation du traité de l'Atlantique nord, ), also called the North Atlantic Alliance, is an intergovernmental military alliance between 30 member states – 28 European and two No ...
feared that the agreement would only serve to allow militants to regroup and to create a safe haven for cross-border attacks into Afghanistan.
* Amnesty International
Amnesty International (also referred to as Amnesty or AI) is an international non-governmental organization focused on human rights, with its headquarters in the United Kingdom. The organization says it has more than ten million members and sup ...
expressed concern that the agreement would legitimize human rights abuses in the region.
See also
* List of drone strikes in Pakistan
Timeline 2004–2007
*18 June 2004: The first known U.S. drone strike killed 5–8 people including Nek Muhammad Wazir and two children, in a strike near Wana, South Waziristan. Pakistan's Army initially claimed the attack as its own work.
*14 ...
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:First Battle Of Swat
Battles of the insurgency in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa
2007 in Pakistan
Conflicts in 2007
Waziristan
Wars involving the Taliban
October 2007 events in Pakistan
November 2007 events in Pakistan
December 2007 events in Pakistan