LAHORE: Teenagers in the former Taliban stronghold of Swat are smiling in relief, after the successful army operation against the Taliban in the valley has ended their days of forcibly working as boy soldiers.
A report in the Washington Post said the Pakistan Army had found hundreds of traumatised teenagers when its troops regained control of Swat in a violent campaign this summer.
About a month ago, the army opened a rehabilitation clinic for the war-torn teenagers.
It has been named “Sabaoon”, which is means “the first ray of light of the morning” in Pushto.
The report’s author said the military’s commander in Swat, Major Gen Ishfaq Nadeem Ahmad had warned him before he visited the facility that many of the boys were still shaken by their experiences.
But one of the youths had merrily stepped forward and shook hands with him.
The commander said the boy had been trained as a suicide bomber when he was rescued.
The report said it was the perfect way to defeat an insurgency. It said the teenagers would return home as living witnesses that the Taliban’s hold on Swat had been broken and that the army was serious about protecting the people.
“We told our majors and captains that people should fall in love with you,” Gen Nadeem said.
The author wrote that the commander’s claims became clear when they travelled through the valley without protective armour or other precautions, reflective of the fact that the army had considerable public support.
The commander said the roads were a no-go-zone six months ago, but they were now teeming with merchants and shoppers.
Some women were out in public even without burqas that the Taliban had enforced. The only Kalashnikovs to be seen were on billboards advertising a laundry soap that took after its name.
What the Pakistani army did differently was that it stopped trying to buy peace with the Taliban through deals that inevitably collapsed. In May, as the insurgency was spreading out of Swat towards Islamabad, the army finally decided to crack down, for real.
Pak plans: Gen Nadeem cited three factors in the campaign’s success.
First, the army sent enough troops to do the job – two divisions, totalling about 25,000 men, rather than the 3,000-man brigade that had failed to contain the insurgency before.
Second, to allow the use of heavy firepower, soldiers moved civilians out, creating more than 2 million internally displaced persons, who have now mostly returned, and third, the army had popular support from Pakistanis fed up with the Taliban.
The report said the execution had some lessons for US troops across the border in Afghanistan, but said a fact remained clear that the US, being an outside force, simply could not do some of the things that worked for Pakistani commanders.
“No matter how fervently Gen Stanley McChrystal speaks of a population-centric strategy, it is hard to implement if it is not your country,” the report said.
McChrystal’s strategy echoes some of the Pakistani precepts — more troops, more foccus on the population, more security.
“But even with an additional 40,000 troops, the United States won’t have the same popular support the Pakistanis enjoyed in Swat. America is fighting what many Afghans will always regard as a war of occupation. People aren’t going to fall in love with US troops,” the report added.
“The right Afghanistan policy begins with a frank admission that this isn’t America’s problem, it’s Afghanistan’s. The US needs to patiently support the emerging Afghan government, keeping our troop levels firm and reliable, until the Afghans acquire the tools and political consensus to secure their country,” it said.
A report in the Washington Post said the Pakistan Army had found hundreds of traumatised teenagers when its troops regained control of Swat in a violent campaign this summer.
About a month ago, the army opened a rehabilitation clinic for the war-torn teenagers.
It has been named “Sabaoon”, which is means “the first ray of light of the morning” in Pushto.
The report’s author said the military’s commander in Swat, Major Gen Ishfaq Nadeem Ahmad had warned him before he visited the facility that many of the boys were still shaken by their experiences.
But one of the youths had merrily stepped forward and shook hands with him.
The commander said the boy had been trained as a suicide bomber when he was rescued.
The report said it was the perfect way to defeat an insurgency. It said the teenagers would return home as living witnesses that the Taliban’s hold on Swat had been broken and that the army was serious about protecting the people.
“We told our majors and captains that people should fall in love with you,” Gen Nadeem said.
The author wrote that the commander’s claims became clear when they travelled through the valley without protective armour or other precautions, reflective of the fact that the army had considerable public support.
The commander said the roads were a no-go-zone six months ago, but they were now teeming with merchants and shoppers.
Some women were out in public even without burqas that the Taliban had enforced. The only Kalashnikovs to be seen were on billboards advertising a laundry soap that took after its name.
What the Pakistani army did differently was that it stopped trying to buy peace with the Taliban through deals that inevitably collapsed. In May, as the insurgency was spreading out of Swat towards Islamabad, the army finally decided to crack down, for real.
Pak plans: Gen Nadeem cited three factors in the campaign’s success.
First, the army sent enough troops to do the job – two divisions, totalling about 25,000 men, rather than the 3,000-man brigade that had failed to contain the insurgency before.
Second, to allow the use of heavy firepower, soldiers moved civilians out, creating more than 2 million internally displaced persons, who have now mostly returned, and third, the army had popular support from Pakistanis fed up with the Taliban.
The report said the execution had some lessons for US troops across the border in Afghanistan, but said a fact remained clear that the US, being an outside force, simply could not do some of the things that worked for Pakistani commanders.
“No matter how fervently Gen Stanley McChrystal speaks of a population-centric strategy, it is hard to implement if it is not your country,” the report said.
McChrystal’s strategy echoes some of the Pakistani precepts — more troops, more foccus on the population, more security.
“But even with an additional 40,000 troops, the United States won’t have the same popular support the Pakistanis enjoyed in Swat. America is fighting what many Afghans will always regard as a war of occupation. People aren’t going to fall in love with US troops,” the report added.
“The right Afghanistan policy begins with a frank admission that this isn’t America’s problem, it’s Afghanistan’s. The US needs to patiently support the emerging Afghan government, keeping our troop levels firm and reliable, until the Afghans acquire the tools and political consensus to secure their country,” it said.
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