In much of Swat and Malakand division the State’s writ has been restored within four months of the launch of the military operation. Over 30,000 troops of three divisions were deployed, all of whom will remain there during the stabilisation phase.
However, as a recent suicide attack in Mingora demonstrated, the militants’ capacity to strike is yet to be neutralised even if it has been significantly degraded. A guerrilla style hit-and-run, low intensity conflict will most likely continue. Most of the top leaders of the Swat TTP are still at large. Sporadic fighting by scattered bands keeps erupting. Hardcore fighters who melted into the heavily-forested terrain have occasionally engaged the army, albeit in a defensive mode. This resistance is said to be dwindling, especially as the local community is becoming more assertive in cooperating with the authorities. Official and public confidence has also been enhanced by a series of militant surrenders, some to the law enforcement authorities (LEAs) and others to officially-sponsored local lashkars. But setting too high a store on the people’s ability to resist and inform must be tempered by their lingering fear of a Taliban comeback, until, at least, the top leadership is neutralised.
The most significant aspect of the Malakand operation is the return of the displaced people. An estimated 1.8 million refugees have returned — 80 per cent back to the division and 90 per cent to Swat — confounding doomsday predictions. This would not have happened if they did not feel reassured about their safety. The return of the refugees is an important indicator of growing normalcy. The exodus of over 2 million people and the danger of a humanitarian disaster had become issues of sharp domestic concern and international criticism. Even though it caused much human suffering, the mass evacuation became a key enabling factor for military action, allowing artillery and aerial bombardment of the evacuated areas.
http://newageislam.com/malakand-operation--the-threat-of-militancy-is-not-over/war-on-terror/d/1812
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