Radio spreads Talibans terror writ in interior Swat

Every night around 8 oclock,the terrified residents of Swat,a hundred miles from three of Pakistans most important cities,crowd around their radios.

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Every night around 8 oclock,the terrified residents of Swat,a hundred miles from three of Pakistans most important cities,crowd around their radios. They know that failure to listen and learn might lead to a lashing or a beheading.

Using a radio transmitter,a local Taliban leader,Shah Doran,on most nights outlines newly proscribed un-Islamic activities,like selling DVDs,watching cable television,singing,dancing,criticising the Taliban,shaving beards and allowing girls to attend school. He also reveals names of people the Taliban have been killed for violating their decrees and those they plan to kill.

International attention remains fixed on the Talibans hold on Pakistan’s semiautonomous tribal areas,from where they launch attacks on American forces in Afghanistan. But for Pakistan,the loss of the Swat Valley could prove just as devastating. After more than a year of fighting,virtually all of it is now under Taliban control,marking the militants farthest advance eastward into Pakistans so-called settled areas.

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The Taliban have taken a sizable bite out of the nation. And they are enforcing a strict interpretation of Islam with cruelty,bringing beheadings,assassinations,repression and persecution of women to the region.

Last year,70 police officers were killed,and 150 wounded. The police have become so afraid that many officers put advertisements in newspapers renouncing their jobs so the Taliban wont kill them. The Swat nightmare is a capsule of the countrys problems: an ineffectual government,coupled with military and security forces that,in view of furious residents,have allowed militants to spread terror in Pakistan.