Floods in Pakistan

Saeed Shah, Guardian, Pakistan floods: Islamic fundamentalists fill state aid void, 3 Aug 2010 "Jamaat-ud-Dawa, a hardline Islamist organisation thought to be a front for Lashkar-e-Taiba, the group blamed for the 2008 assault on Mumbai, said it had 2,000 members working for flood relief across the north-west of the country and down into Punjab province."

'Taliban flogging video'

Alex Rodriguez, LA Times, 'Taliban flogging video may show different girl, but message is the same: The Taliban did beat Chand Bibi publicly, and whether or not her ordeal was the one shown in a notorious video, the footage awakened Pakistan to the extent of the militant group’s reach', 29 Apr 2010.

"That video, made famous in the age of YouTube and cellphone downloads, stunned the country and gave the world a disturbing view of the plight of Pakistanis trapped in Taliban-controlled regions such as the Swat Valley.

"Did the video show another flogging, or was it even staged? And if so, does it matter?"

Swat Facebook video

Telegraph, Pakistan soldiers 'beat' civilians in Facebook video, 5 Oct 09 "The recording has emerged as concern rises over alleged extra-judicial killing of Taliban detainees in the country's Swat valley.

"The apparent executions and the film, posted on internet websites including YouTube and Facebook, could undermine the Pakistani army's operation in north western Swat to drive out the Taliban who had annexed the area – an offensive which has won praise from around the world."

Declan Walsh, Guardian, Video shows Pakistani soldiers beating Taliban suspects, 2 Oct 09

The latter article includes a link to heavily edited version of the 10 minute clip, somewhat incongruously edited by the Guardian onto a commercial for vodka ...

"The country's powerful army has faced frequent accusations of human rights abuses. Ali Dayan Hasan of Human Rights Watch said it was difficult to verify the authenticity of the video but such abuses were common whenever soldiers were involved in anti-terrorism operations. "It is disgustingly predictable," he said."

Swat

Yaroslav Trofimov, WSJ, Taliban's Reign of Fear Spreads in Pakistani City, 20 May 2009 "Spreading outside the lawless tribal areas along the Afghan-Pakistani frontier, Taliban groups have shut down video stores and Internet cafés in much of the North West Frontier province. In the Swat Valley, in particular, they focused on eradicating girls' education, blowing up some 200 schools and branding female teachers "prostitutes.""

Swat

Muslim Hands International, Exodus of historic proportions: Muslim Hands launches £500,000 appeal for Swat crisis "Muslim Hands (MH) has responded to this emerging crisis by providing food, safe drinking water, medical field clinics and temporary schools for the 50,000 displaced persons in three of the major camps in Swabi and Mardan, 100 km north of Islamabad. MH began food aid programmes in April, for 1050 needy families in Kunji Camp, Dir."

Details: Muslim Hands [other charities are also involved]

Also see Declan Walsh, Guardian, Caught in the crossfire – the Swat valley's fleeing families, 14 May 09

Swat: Punishment by Pakistan Taliban

Declan Walsh, The Guardian, Video of girl's flogging as Taliban hand out justice, 2 Apr 09 "A video showing a teenage girl being flogged by Taliban fighters has emerged from the Swat Valley in Pakistan, offering a shocking glimpse of militant brutality in the once-peaceful district, and a sign of Taliban influence spreading deeper into the country."

Disturbing viewing.

Also read this piece: Saeed Shah, The Guardian, Pakistan region in grip of fear as leader begins to implement sharia law, 3 Apr 09 "[Sufi] Muhammad is leader of an Islamist movement that has long since agitated for sharia justice. And he took a big step towards his objective in February when he struck a "peace for sharia" deal with the authorities under which the Taliban would stop a two-year armed campaign in the region in return for the establishment of new religious courts. In a rare interview with any media outlet, domestic or foreign, he told the Guardian that the new courts would formalise penalties including flogging, chopping off hands and stoning to death."

'Pakistan's Taliban Generation'

Channel 4, Pakistan's Taliban Generation, 12 Mar 09 Site includes interactive map. I know some of this area from my travels some time back. Reporter Sharmeen Obaid-Chinoy writes:

"Three hours' drive north of Pakistan's capital, Islamabad, the flat highway gives way to the windy roads that weave through the Hindu Kush mountains. At the mouth of the Swat valley lies the town of Qambar. A desolate unmanned police station is the only sign that the government's writ was once established here."

UK readers can 'catch up' on the episode online here

Readers elsewhere should petition their local broadcasters to transmit this programme.

Swat

ionglobaltrends, Swat Valley: Radical cleric sets deadline for implementation of Sharia, 2 Mar 09 "A hardline Muslim cleric in Pakistan's volatile Swat Valley said Sunday the government must fulfill its promise to set up strict Islamic courts in the region by March 15 or face protests."

Pact Radio

Pact Radio

Telegraph, The Cambridge chaplain fighting fanaticism by radio in Pakistan's Swat valley, 21 Feb 09 "Mr Butt, who spends part of his year as the Muslim chaplain of Cambridge University, studied for 13 years of at the Dar ul-Uloom Deoband, the most influential Muslim seminary in south Asia. He set up the Pact radio station in 2004, staffed by local reporters he trained himself, to help disseminate the views of local people.

"His programmes argue that the superficial - and dangerous - ideas preached by militants in Pakistan and Afghanistan are a deviation from the more profound message of Islam."

Here's Pact Radio's website

Swat

Swat

Daud Khattakis, Times Online, Into a Taliban wasteland of blood and fear, 22 Feb 09 "American officials are concerned that the cleric, Maulana Fazlullah, who is intent on imposing a harsh version of sharia (religious law), will allow the valley to become a base for Al-Qaeda and other terrorists."