Kala Dhaka – the new home for Swat Taliban?

* NWFP police chief says neither jirga effective nor Levies deputed in Kala Dhaka

By Iqbal Khattak

PESHAWAR: Kala Dhaka is the new base for the Taliban, who fled last year’s military operation in Swat and other districts in Malakand, NWFP police chief Malik Naveed told Daily Times.

“It (Kala Dhaka) is creating problems for us,” he expressed concern over the new base of the Swat Taliban who could make a comeback if not contained now.

Problems for the police chief are surfacing in Hazara division where the Taliban carried out three attacks in the last two months, targeting a foreign non-governmental organisation’s office, and two police stations in Mansehra and Balakot.

Kala Dhaka is part of PATA where the government’s writ has not been established yet as neither a jirga is effective nor do the Levies Force operate there. The new base makes the Taliban’s job easier to launch selective attacks against key Hazara districts such as Mansehra, Abbottabad and Balakot. The inaccessible tribal area qualifies for a military operation only if Swat and other districts in Hazara division are saved from militancy, experts argued.

Out of control: “A lot of Swat (Taliban) people have gone to Kala Dhaka where a jirga is not effective and neither the Levies Force has been deputed to check these people,” Naveed said.

Asked if he felt there was a need to conduct an operation in Kala Dhaka, he said, “The military is contemplating...”

Despite expressing concern over the new Taliban base, Naveed, however, appeared confident in crushing militancy in the province after “disrupting” the Taliban’s supply lines and command and control structures.

“They believed they are invincible... we proved it wrong. The militants have a leadership crisis. They are killing their own wounded comrades to leave no trail behind,” he added.

Around 591 policemen have sacrificed their lives in the war on terror since 2001 and a wide-scale desertion in Swat posed a significant danger for a complete collapse of the police system in the province. However, critics credit Naveed for mobilising the public and keeping the force united against the Taliban.

Naveed referred to some Taliban attacks as a “survival game”. He said there had been no differences among the Taliban earlier “but they are in disarray” now. Besides help from the US to equip the NWFP police, Naveed still has a “shopping list” for his force. “I need more armoured personnel carriers, mobile phone trackers and special lights.”