Pak govt. must ensure security of Swat displaced before asking them to return: UN

September 9th, 2009 Pakistan: Soldier, 7 militants die in Swat clashISLAMABAD — Pakistan's military says one soldier and seven militants have died in a gunbattle in the northwestern Swat Valley, where the army has waged a four-month-old offensive against the Taliban. An army statement Wednesday says the clash came as security forces were conducting a search operation in the Charai area.

August 10th, 2009 PESHAWAR - Around 115,458 displaced families from Swat, Malakand and other conflict-hit areas have returned home since the process of rehabilitation began on July 13. A majority of the families used private transport for their return, with the Emergency Response Unit (ERU) saying that only 30 percent of the displaced families opted for the transport arranged by the government, the Daily Times reports.

July 31st, 2009 PESHAWAR - All educational institutions in the war-affected areas of Swat and two other districts in Pakistan's restive northwest will reopen Saturday, with teachers being directed to ensure their attendance or face strict departmental action. The North West Frontier Province (NWFP) education department Friday directed teachers to ensure their attendance in the schools, Online news agency reported.

July 14th, 2009 PESHAWAR - Amidst fear and confusion, the repatriation of internally displaced persons (IDPs) belonging to Swat and other parts of Malakand division started from Jalozai Camp, Nowshera, and two other camps in Charsadda. However, according to other reports, the volume of the return was very low mainly due to security restrictions.

July 13th, 2009 JALOZAI CAMP - Many of the thousands displaced by fighting between the military and Taliban in north-western Pakistan began returning Monday to their homes in parts of the Swat Valley. Authorities transported families from tented camps set up in the districts of Nowshera and Charsadda, located close to the Buner district which was overrun by the Taliban in April, prompting a government offensive.

July 12th, 2009 PESHAWAR - The North Western Frontier Government has charted out a three-phased rehabilitation plan for the internally displaced persons (IDPs) of the Swat Valley. Under the first phase beginning Monday, the IDPs from 11 camps will return to the valley, the Dawn quoted NWFP Information Minister Mian Iftikhar Hussain, as saying.

July 9th, 2009 Pakistan's Swat refugees to return home next weekISLAMABAD — Pakistan will allow the some 2 million people who fled an army offensive against the Taliban in the Swat Valley area to return home beginning next week, the prime minister announced Thursday, saying the region was now secure and essential services had been restored. The refugees are staying in crowded camps and in homes just south of the northwestern region.

June 30th, 2009 PESHAWAR - The Chief Minister of Pakistan's North Western Frontier Province, Amir Haider Hoti, has said that the Taliban has not been eliminated from Swat and warned that they may try to re-group in the future. "We have taken a resolve of complete elimination of militants from society because they are the enemy of people and nation and have committed inhuman crime which is not tolerable in any society," The Nation quoted Hoti, as saying.

June 13th, 2009 PESHAWAR - Civil servants in Pakistan's restive northwest, where the military is engaged in a major anti-Taliban offensive, have been asked to report for work by June 20 or face suspension. North West Frontier Province (NWFP) Chief Minister Haider Khan Hoti told reporters here Saturday he had directed the civil administration in the Swat, Buner and Lower Dir areas to return to work by June 20 so that repair work on electricity, water, and gas utilities could be carried out.

June 9th, 2009 UNITED NATIONS - The UN has opened three new camps to house the displaced Pakistanis fleeing the war in North West Frontier Province (NWFP), officials said. The displaced Pakistanis continue to pour into the camps as their homes were ravaged in the conflict between the security forces and the Taliban, the UN office for Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) said Monday.

June 4th, 2009 PESHAWAR - The Pakistan Army might be claiming success in its operation in the Swat Valley, but a large number of people, who have been forced to flee the region due to the military operation, have put a question mark over the offensive, saying no key Taliban leader has been nabbed or killed so far. Internally Displaced Persons (IDPs), who have fled the valley and have taken refuge in government schools here, are skeptical about the authenticity of the military offensive, The Daily Times reports.

May 18th, 2009 ISLAMABAD - Pakistan Prime Minister Yusuf Raza Gilani has said the Army would not be called back from the Swat Valley until peace is restored in the region completely. Addressing an all party meeting here, Gilani said the security forces would only be called back from the region when peace and all the displaced people return to the valley.

May 16th, 2009 ISLAMABAD - Pakistani forces have killed 47 Taliban fighters, including two important commanders, in the northwestern Swat valley and three neighbouring districts over the last 24 hours, a spokesman for the Pakistani Army said Saturday. Major General Athar Abbas told reporters in Islamabad that some areas of the Swat valley adjoining Shangla district have been cleared of the rebels.

May 13th, 2009 ISLAMABAD - Pakistan Chief of Army Staff (COAS) General Ashfaq Kayani has asked the security forces to ensure minimum loss of life of civilians in the Swat operation. General Kayani instructed the Army to plan their movement tactfully with precision strikes, so that little collateral damage is done, The News reports.

May 11th, 2009 ISLAMABAD - Pakistani President Asif Ali Zardari has expressed concern over the displacement of people in the Swat Valley as the troops intensified their battle against the Taliban in the region, killing at least 200 militants over the weekend. The Pakistani leader has directed the local authorities to help the displaced civilians in the conflict, mainly in the Swat Valley and Malakand division in North West Frontier Province (NWFP), the Online news agency reported Sunday.