Communicating Arts - Main Web Site"Police said a group of assailants were trying to hustle militia chief Pir Samiullah from his home in the Mandaldag area to a getaway car when dozens of local tribesmen confronted them and snatched him back.
"Dilawar Bangash, the Swat police chief, said hundreds of Taliban later returned, seized three members of the militia and beheaded one of them on a road before a large crowd" (AP via Fox, October 26, 2008)
Although promised automatic weapons from China, Pakistan's growing tribal lashkar movement may have yet more guts than gunpowder for stopping the militants in their midst.
However, they also may have the inspired solidarity that comes of suffering coercion, kidnappings, and murders at militant hands, which applied would seem always terrifying, up close, and personal. The consequent development of volunteer tribal militia or "lashkar" has come too late in many places to ward off open warfare with the invading Taliban but not too late to narrow both the social and territorial filters through which militants have produced their most peculiar business and to forestall heavier state military intervention in their own areas of responsibility.
While the tribal lashkar accumulate successes, the time frame in which militants operate may add difficulty to local defense for there are always two parts to it: 1) defense against immediate militant-led threats and operations; 2) defense of tribal culture against the long-term struggle by the same to impose themselves on the tribes with unquestionable and absolute authority.
Bondage by any other name would be no different, and the tribes know it.
"The provocation for the Salarzais to raise their lashkar was provided by Taliban militants, who killed two tribal elders and a cleric for holding a meeting with political authorities in Bajaur's headquarters, Khar, in violation of their decree" (Yusufzai, October 2008).
There should be no question as to who has been out to subjugate whom.
Reference
Associated Press. "Officials: 41 Killed in Pakistan Fighting." Fox News.com, October 26, 2008: http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,444067,00.html
Bacha, Ali Hazrat. "Peshawar: Police sceptical (STET) of lashkars." Dawn, October 25, 2008: http://www.dawn.com/2008/10/25/local26.htm
Balala, Abdul Qayum. "About Dir, Swat & Chitral." From "The charming Swat" at SwatValley.com. Pakhtun.com: http://www.pakhtun.com/AboutSwat.htm
Bureau Report. "Villagers raise lashkar to deal with militants." The International News, October 10, 2008: http://www.thenews.com.pk/daily_detail.asp?id=140226
Coll, Steve. "Jalaluddin Haqqani." Return of the Taliban, Frontline: http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/frontline/taliban/militants/haqqani.html; "The Stories of a Warlord and a Journalist", Frontline: http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/frontline//taliban/view/5.html
Correspondent. "15 die as people clash with militants in Swat." The International News, October 27, 2008: http://www.thenews.com.pk/top_story_detail.asp?Id=18018
Correspondent. "Four kidnapped tribal elders beheaded." The International News, October 11, 2008: http://www.thenews.com.pk/top_story_detail.asp?Id=17744
Correspondent. "Charmang tribes announce forming Lashkar against militants." The International News, September 30, 2008: http://www.thenews.com.pk/daily_detail.asp?id=138673
Correspondent. "Troops, Lashkar kill 15 militants in Bajaur." The International News, October 14, 2008: http://www.thenews.com.pk/top_story_detail.asp?Id=17810
Correspondent. "Wazristan plunges into darkness." The International News, October 10, 2008: http://www.thenews.com.pk/daily_detail.asp?id=140232
Jan, Delawar. "Restive valley gathering courage to raise another lashkar." October 24, 2008: http://www.thenews.com.pk/daily_detail.asp?id=142809
Khan, M. Ilyas. "The Afghan-Pakistan militant nexus." September 10, 2008: http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/south_asia/7601748.stm
Morgan, David. "Pakistan plans to arm militias in tribal lands." Reuters, October 23, 2008: http://www.alertnet.org/thenews/newsdesk/N23461990.htm
Schmitt, Eric, Mark Mazzetti and Carlotta Gall. "U.S. Hopes to Use Pakistani Tribes Against Al Qaeda." The New York Times, November 19, 2007: http://www.nytimes.com/2007/11/19/washington/19policy.html?_r=2&pagewanted=1&oref=slogin&oref=slogin
Unattributed. "14 Taliban killed in Bajaur clashes." The International News, October 15, 2008: http://www.thenews.com.pk/top_story_detail.asp?Id=17817
Unattributed. "Taliban behead four elders in Bajaur." Daily Times, October 11, 2008: http://www.dailytimes.com.pk/default.asp?page=2008%5C10%5C11%5Cstory_11-10-2008_pg1_2
Unattributed. "23 militants killed in Bajaur fighting." The News via Pakistan Press Foundation, October 9, 2008: http://www.pakistanpressfoundation.org/userMediaFilesDetails.asp?uid=14630
Yusufzai, Rahimullah. "The Tribes Fight Back." Newsline, October 2008: http://www.newsline.com.pk/NewsOct2008/cover4oct2008.htm
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