AT a remote base camp in the heart of the Swat Valley, Pakistani army troops were hunkered down in a temporary compound, a large private home whose owner recently fled the advancing warfare. It was the third day of a nine-day operation to clear an area known as Sakhra Valley, and the soldiers remained under attack by Taliban fighters who had made it one of their strongholds.
Bullet holes riddled living-room windows, and shattered glass covered the floors. From the balcony, soldiers fired back, using binoculars to locate enemy positions. In the courtyard, sandbags were filled to fortify broken walls and build sniper posts.
A Los Angeles Times photographer caught a firsthand glimpse of the battle Thursday while traveling with Pakistani troops. More than 40 Pakistani soldiers have been killed in recent fighting to take back control of Central and Upper Swat from Islamic militants who have terrorised residents unwilling to accept their harsh Islamic justice system. Authorities say about 500 militants have died in the fighting in this one-time tourist haven Sakhra Valley just 100 miles from the nation’s capital, Islamabad.
In February, the Pakistani government agreed to allow the Taliban in this area to enforce Sharia, or Islamic law, if the militants would stop such acts of violence as the beheading of local officials and paramilitary troops who spoke out against them. Within weeks, the Taliban had expanded into neighbouring Buner district, setting up checkpoints and ordering the enforcement of strict Sharia.
More than 20,000 Pakistani troops have since been committed to rooting out the Taliban.
In the Swat Valley, the army’s game plan has been to enter small villages and valleys off the main north-south road and attempt to rid them of militants before moving on to the next community.
Weeks of heavy fighting in towns such as Mingora and Matta forced the Taliban into more remote valleys such as Sakhra, surrounded by snowcapped mountains.
The lush green terrain and deep canyons have led some to call the area the Switzerland of Pakistan, where farmers grow wheat and where apple and peach trees are plentiful. But the picturesque landscape favours the guerrillas, many of them Swat Valley residents. The fighters are knowledgeable about the battleground, light on their feet and can often outrun the more cumbersome government forces. “It is very difficult to control their movements in this terrain,” said Brig. Suba Khan, in command of the Sakhra Valley operation. “When you enter these valleys, you need more boots on the ground. Our people have to go out on foot, to physically walk up these mountains.”
The army, while seemingly strong in number and organization, is hampered by a dearth of armoured vehicles, night-vision goggles and sufficient air support.
Lt. Col Ashraf Adil Naveed commands the four units here, including the 50 troops who were inside the house and the 100 men positioned in the surrounding woods, who would remain there throughout the long, dark night.
“This area is very difficult from a military point of view,” he said. “We don’t have night vision, so this operation will take twice as long. There is a hard fight going on. This is the first time any armed forces have been in this area. We have been fighting 72 hours straight, and three of our men have been killed.”
During a lull, Naveed explained that the Taliban was “using very expensive weapons, which are not available for sale in Pakistan. Militants also have made use of housewares: pressure cookers, like those for making stew, with holes drilled in the top can be wired for manual detonation.
Troops found a carefully handwritten notebook containing the simple recipe for improvised explosive devices, or IEDs. Booby traps awaited Naveed’s men on the narrow, winding road through the Sakhra Valley. Two large craters had been created by IEDs, and a bridge had been blown up.
A few yards beyond, in the village of Shamay, stood a house filled with explosive materials -- a literal IED factory -- including open sacks of explosive powder.
The Pakistani army was riding in light, open jeeps, fully exposed to fire and fragments from any explosion.
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