Communicating Arts - Main Web SiteA few paragraphs down the page, Junald Khan writes, "The fighting continued on Saturday with residents taking positions on mountains to battle the militants, police said."
And farther along: "Villagers criticised government forces for not helping them."
According to the article, the Pakistani Army "fired some artillery."
Probably, if it weren't for the fighting, Mingora would be a lovely place for travel. Here is a tourism- promoting web for it: http://www.cybercity-online.net/pakistan/html/mingora.html.
However, instead of boasting about mosques and mountaineers today, another headline from two days ago read, "30 militants killed in Swat" (ESSA KHANKHEL September 4, 2008 The Nation).
Also, from earlier today: "MINGORA: Nine killed as locals take up arms against Taliban", Dawn, September 6, 2008.
My guess: it has become evident that language directs violence, and the local pir may have through his sheered from the Taliban line, taking his people with him and motivating them to fight for him when pressed by Taliban aggression, producing an essentially independent anti-Taliban movement in the much contested mountainous region northwest of Islamabad.
The fighting at Mingora may turn out a major test for the Taliban, one that the now independent followers of Pir Samiullah may be expected to meet--and that with the earnest help of Pakistan's military forces.
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