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           Green Chowk becomes ‘Khooni Chowk’

The military on Sunday overtook a major crossing in Mingora which had long been used by the Taliban as an execution square to spread fear amongst the local population. -AP

ISLAMABAD: The Taliban left so many mutilated bodies at the crossing, some hanging from trees with threatening notes, that Pakistanis in the Swat Valley's main town took to calling it ‘bloody intersection.’

On Sunday, the army said that spot and seven other major crossings in Mingora were secured, part of street-by-street urban fighting whose success is considered critical to flushing out the militants from the valley as a whole.

The events underscored how widespread and entrenched militant activity is along Pakistan's rugged region bordering Afghanistan, and how pushing the Taliban out of Swat is unlikely to defuse the overall insurgency beleaguering the nuclear-armed Muslim nation.

A military statement Sunday said forces had encountered at least 12 roadside bombs while securing the eight intersections. Five suspected militants were killed in various parts of Mingora while 14 others were arrested, the army said.

The retaking of Green Chowk could have serious symbolic value.

Residents nicknamed it ‘khooni chowk’ or ‘bloody intersection’ because the militants would leave their victims' bodies there, some decapitated, some killed in other brutal fashions. The dead often were left hanging from trees. Some had notes attached that accused the victims of spying and told local residents not to move the bodies until specified times.

It was just one fear tactic used by Taliban fighters to exert control over the population of Mingora, which when not under army siege normally has at least 375,000 residents.

Some 10,000 to 20,000 residents are still stranded in the town, according to the army.

One trapped civilian said that gunshots were ringing through the air, first continuously then at intervals. He said he had tried to flee the city twice but failed due to the fighting and lack of transportation.

‘I will try to leave again whenever I get another chance,’ said Fazal Wadood, a local leader of the opposition Pakistan Muslim League-N party. ‘It is like inviting death to stay here anymore.’

Overall in the valley, 10 militants were killed in the past 24 hours while three security troops died, the army statement said.

It added that troops had entered Piochar village, a hub in a remote part of Swat that is the rear base for Swat Taliban leader Maulana Fazlullah. A huge cache of arms and a bomb-making factory were unearthed, the statement said.

The military says about 1,100 suspected insurgents have died so far in the month long offensive in Swat and neighboring districts. It has not given any tally of civilian deaths, and it's unclear how it is separating noncombatants killed from militants. Residents fleeing the region have reported dozens of ordinary Pakistanis killed in the fight.

Some 1,500 to 2,000 hard-core insurgent fighters remain in Swat, the army says. Information provided by the military and civilians is nearly impossible to verify independently because of limited access to the area.

DAWN: Tuesday, 26 May, 2009