Pakistan/Afghanistan - Swat valley

Five Taliban leaders arrested in Swat valley

Article published on the 2009-09-11 Latest update 2009-09-11 14:36 TU

Pakistani tribal militia gather at the military camp in Qalagai town in northern Swat valley.
(Photo: AFP)

A Pakistani army operation has arrested and brought into custody five Taliban leaders, including one of the group’s spokespeople, who were operating in the Swat Valley.

“It was a very successful mission,” Athar Abbas, the chief military spokesman, said in a statement.

The report specified that Muslim Khan, the Taliban spokesperson in Swat interviewed by RFI in April, and Mahmood Khan, a senior Taliban commander, were captured in the operation.

"This is a big blow to the Taliban movement and will further demoralise those militants who are fighting against the government in Swat and the whole of Malakand region," says correspondent Behroz Khan.

The military have won the confidence of local people that they can take effective action against the rebels, he says.

The arrests take some pressure off Pakistan, which was being pushed to crack down on Taliban operations in the Swat Valley. A large military offensive there in April led to some 1,500 fighters' deaths, according to the army. 

However, many analysts say that Taliban forces were not vanquished and simply melted back into the population.