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Pakistani Cleric Calls Ceasefire

Dozens killed in clashes with government troops, helicopters

By Lucas Laursen,  Newser Staff

Posted Oct 29, 2007 12:07 PM CDT
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(Newser) – Supporters of an extremist cleric who had declared a jihad against Pakistan agreed to a ceasefire today after fierce fighting this weekend claimed between 50 and 60 of their number, Al Jazeera reports. Pakistan had sent 2,500 paramilitary troops to Swat to head off Maulana Fazlullah, who wants to establish a Taliban-style state governed by Islamic law.

"Later on we will hold negotiations with the government on establishing Islamic Sharia," declared Fazlullah’s spokesman. The militants captured a police post over the weekend; the government retaliated with helicopter gunships. Violence began in the region after government troops stormed the Red Mosque in Islamabad this summer. Swat is part of the largely lawless tribal region bordering Afghanistan.

Local resident Syed Zaman shows a leaflet dropped from helicopter by authorities urging residents to help police and paramilitary forces eliminate extremism and terrorism from the Swat valley, at his shop in Mingora, the main town of Pakistan's Swat district, bordering Afghanistan, Saturday, Oct. 27, 2007. Militants have executed all...
Local resident Syed Zaman shows a leaflet dropped from helicopter by authorities urging residents to help police and paramilitary forces "eliminate extremism and terrorism from the Swat valley," at his...   (Associated Press)
Pakistan%u2019s paramilitary soldier gestures as he stands guard at the main bazaar of Mingora, the main town of Pakistan%u2019s Swat district bordering Afghanistan, Monday, Oct. 29, 2007. Pro-Taliban militants and security forces reached a cease-fire in a troubled district of northwest Pakistan early Monday after the deaths of another 35...
Pakistan%u2019s paramilitary soldier gestures as he stands guard at the main bazaar of Mingora, the main town of Pakistan%u2019s Swat district bordering Afghanistan, Monday, Oct. 29, 2007. Pro-Taliban...   (Associated Press)
Pakistani paramedics carry a man who was injured in the gun-battle with militants, at a local hospital in Mingora, the main town of Pakistan's Swat district bordering Afghanistan, Sunday, Oct. 28, 2007. Security forces backed by helicopters exchanged gunfire with militants in volatile northwestern Pakistan on Sunday, killing 10 fighters,...
Pakistani paramedics carry a man who was injured in the gun-battle with militants, at a local hospital in Mingora, the main town of Pakistan's Swat district bordering Afghanistan, Sunday, Oct. 28, 2007....   (Associated Press)
Pakistani paramedics and volunteers carry a paramilitary solder, injured in the gun-battle with militants, at a local hospital in Mingora, the main town of Pakistan's Swat district bordering Afghanistan, Sunday, Oct. 28, 2007. Security forces backed by helicopter gun ships exchanged gunfire with militants in volatile northwestern Pakistan on Sunday,...
Pakistani paramedics and volunteers carry a paramilitary solder, injured in the gun-battle with militants, at a local hospital in Mingora, the main town of Pakistan's Swat district bordering Afghanistan,...   (Associated Press)
Local resident evacuate from a troubled area in outskirt of Mingora, the main town of Pakistan%u2019s Swat district bordering Afghanistan, Sunday, Oct. 28, 2007. Security forces backed by helicopter gunships exchanged gunfire with militants in volatile northwestern Pakistan on Sunday, killing 10 fighters, the military said. (AP Photo/Mohammad Zubair)
Local resident evacuate from a troubled area in outskirt of Mingora, the main town of Pakistan%u2019s Swat district bordering Afghanistan, Sunday, Oct. 28, 2007. Security forces backed by helicopter gunships...   (Associated Press)
Militant supporters of a hard-line cleric Maulana Fazlullah walk outside an Islamic seminary in Imam Dheri village in Pakistan's Swat district, bordering Afghanistan, Saturday, Oct. 27, 2007. Authorities recovered the beheaded bodies of four Pakistani security forces on Saturday after militant supporters of a hard-line cleric publicly executed them, officials...
Militant supporters of a hard-line cleric Maulana Fazlullah walk outside an Islamic seminary in Imam Dheri village in Pakistan's Swat district, bordering Afghanistan, Saturday, Oct. 27, 2007. Authorities...   (Associated Press)
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More background on the militants and the weekend battles
Associated Press

A chronology of recent Swat valley violence
Strategy Page

Maulana Fazlalluh's Wikipedia entry
Wikipedia

 
Taliban • Pakistan • jihad • Islamic Sharia law • Maulana Fazlullah • Swat • militant • cleric

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