Originally published by the Voice of America (www.voanews.com).
Voice of America is funded by the US Federal Government and content it
exclusively produces is in the public domain.
June 8, 2009

Pakistani Tribesmen Rise Up Against Taliban
-------------------------------------------

http://enews.voanews.com/t?ctl=24A79C5:A6F02AD83191E1600A7EFC478F2355363CF5CDEF8FC051DA&
 
Anger at deadly suicide bombing prompts hundreds to attack militant
positions in northwest; public mood said to shift against Taliban 
Top Pakistani and U.S. officials have repeatedly declared there is a
major change in the public mood against Taliban militants in Pakistan.
In what could be the latest evidence of that sentiment, hundreds of
armed Pakistani tribesman are attacking Taliban positions in a remote
area in the northwest following a suicide attack last week on a packed
mosque that killed dozens of people, including children. A paramedic
moves a child injured in a June 5 suicide bombing on a packed mosque in
Haya Gai, a village in Pakistan's remote, northwest Upper Dir District
that killed at least 33 and wounded 40, 6 Jun 2009In Pakistan's remote
district of Upper Dir near the border with Afghanistan, the shock of the
attack on the mosque during Friday prayers turned to anger a day later.
That is when at least 400 armed tribesmen formed a civilian army,
commonly called a "lashkar," and started attacking Taliban militants in
several villages. Reports say anywhere from seven to 13 Taliban
militants were killed and several of their hideouts destroyed. The
civilian uprising in Upper Dir appears to be the latest evidence of
growing anti-Taliban sentiment among the public, according to
Fazal-ur-Rehman, Director of the Institute of Strategic Studies in
Islamabad. Rehman says this is a new development among the Pakistani
public, one that is linked to the month-long military offensive against
the Taliban in the Swat Valley."Now with government support and the
military operation (in Swat), they have seen that this is the time to
get themselves organized in order to create a resistance against these
Taliban," Rehman said. "What you can see now are the initial signs of
this trend."Rehman says local lashkars like the one that formed in Upper
Dir have been encouraged by Pakistani officials, who have come to
realize that security forces simply cannot extend their reach throughout
Pakistan to stop militant attacks."Empowering local people to create
their own defense mechanism and their own defense system - this kind of
local management of security af
fairs will be very helpful," said Rehman. But, he warns, this type of
local uprising will not last without strong backing from government
officials. Pakistani army soldiers take up positions in the troubled
Swat Valley, file photo Aftab Sherpao, a former interior minister and
chief minister in the North West Frontier Province, says the public does
not trust officials to provide security. Still, he says there are ways
the government can capitalize on the growing dislike of the Taliban. He
says the government needs to make sure the Swat Valley operation, and
the resulting displacement of more than two million people, is handled
in a humane fashion. "Once the operations are finished and the
government has established its writ, they have to take the IDP's
(internally displaced people) in a very organized manner back to their
homes. The reconstruction and rehabilitation has to start and the police
force has to be established," said Sherpao. "They can recruit the police
from the IDPs living in the camps. This is the process that is being
very keenly watched by the public across the country. If this goes well,
that will generate a lot of good will."The army's ability to clear
Taliban militants from key areas of the Swat Valley and elsewhere in the
region has been praised from Islamabad to Washington. And although the
army says the battle will not be over until top Taliban leaders are
captured or killed in the Swat region, Pakistani officials say they are
confident the Taliban are on the defensive. But the Taliban have shown
they are still capable of striking the country's main cities. On
Saturday evening as the lashkar in Upper Dir began to fight local
Taliban, a suicide bomber penetrated a police compound in the capital,
Islamabad, killing two policemen.