Pakistani security forces in their offensive against Maulana Fazlullah-led Talibans in the Swat mountains claim to have killed 700 militants and report the fleeing of Talibans from the areas under military attack.
  Contrary to the military’s claim the scribe after residing for a week in the war zone saw the Taliban infrastructure and control intact while those dead and injured due to the attacks were found to be the poor residents of the area.   
Last Thursday 7 May, during a televised address, Prime Minister Yousaf Raza Gillani announced the formal deployment of troops at Malakand division, stating, “We will eliminate those who have tried to destroy peace in the country”. Subsequently, a full-fledged military operation was kicked off with a view to flushing out militants from the area; however, these activities only prompted a civilian exodus and have led to civilian casualties. 
The Government from time to time orders people to vacate their villages but fails to provide the fleeing people with any transport. After evacuation of the area, villages are bombarded while the Talibans are not targeted.   
Due to long curfews in the affected areas, the poor people are forced to use, instead of the main Peshawar-Swat highway, a difficult route which passes through Agra in Malakand agency to reach Mardan district. Transporters have raised their fares -- taking a family from Chakdara in lower Dir to Peshawar, the fare for a normal hi-ace is around Rs. 20,000. The poor people who cannot afford to pay the fares have decided to remain in their homes, but due to the curfew they are facing severe shortages of food and other items of daily use.
After talking to residents of the area its easy to sense their severe hatred for both the Taliban and the security forces. It is a common perception in the area that the Taliban are the products of the agencies. They think that it is a game and the poor civilians are made to suffer the consequences. Fatih Mehmood of Timargara says, “It’s not a new game, once again the Government is using the Taliban for its vested interest, to get funds from the US.”
Jaafar Khan and his family left Shamozai village in Swat for a safer place. He along with his six-member family is in Chakdara and searching for a vehicle to take them out of troubled Malakand area. “I don’t know about my destination but at least I am leaving Malakand division. Our area is not safe, anytime one can come under heavy bombardment and shelling. The Taliban and the Government are responsible for our miseries”, he added.
Awal Shah, a resident of Maidan Dir, said, “We are not clear about the game behind the operation but one thing is clear -- the Government seeks dollars at our expense while the Talibans are seek heaven; meaning that the Taliban are fighting this war seeking the blessing of Allah while the Government is fighting this war seeking American aid.
Namoos Khan of Asban area of Dir is not ready to leave his village, saying, “I will never surrender and lead a life like a gypsy in tents and would rather welcome death in my village. Why should I leave my village, what wrong I have done, if the Government is interested to kill me let it do so, but I will not leave my home.”
There are some people with bad experience of a refugee’s life. Momin Khan of Kabal Swat is one of them. He said, “During the last military operation, we shifted to Rawalpindi but that was not a good experience for us. We hardly found any work and most of the time remained at chawks. A number of times the police came and picked us up as suspects. After the peace agreement we returned to our village and despite the fighting, we will not leave it again.”  
Though the majority of the people are against the Taliban in the area, they are also critical of the Government policy which instead of sending troops on the ground to fight the Taliban, only targets different villages from helicopters and jets. Rashid Khan of Naway Kalay is against this shelling and said, “If the army was fighting the Taliban on the ground, we the locals would also support it, but shelling residential areas has created hatred for the Government.”
While the Government claims killing of a number of Taliban key commanders, the homegrown Taliban too appear satisfied and are claiming victory against the security forces. Maulana Fazlullah is leading the insurgency in the region. According to sources he is present at Puchar, his control center, and is in regular contact with Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) leadership. Fazlullah has ordered his men to go all out during this decisive operation and vows to use all of his suicide bombers. Swat has been divided into many fronts by Taliban like Uhud, Badar, Shaam, Medina, Mecca, Hunain, Chota Kalam, Qandahaar, Bagraam, Tora Bora etc.       
 Maulana Shah Dawran, the deputy of Maulana Fazlullah, is incharge of Taliban at Kalam; originally belongs to Qambar. The Maulana usually delivers speeches via his FM channel and is known for his witty remarks. He is also considered to be a good fighter.
 Maulana Sirajuddin, in his early forties, belongs to the Yousafzai tribe and is one of Maulana Fazlullah's relatives. He is leading the Taliban at Shangla and its surrounding areas. The soft-spoken Sirajuddin with bluish eyes and ruddy complexion formerly ran a chairlift that took people from Fizagat to Mumdherai, ex-headquarters of Maulana Fazlullah. He was TTP Swat spokesperson until he was replaced by Hajji Muslim Khan last year.
 Bilal, a young commander, joined the Maulana Fazlullah group in 2007 and remained quite successful in different fronts against the security forces. Keeping this in mind, the Taliban Shura (Taliban council) appointed him commander for Mingora City, the most important front. 
 Mufti Fazal Ghafar, age 30, belongs to Shamozai area of Swat and is leading the war in his hometown. He belongs to an influential tribe of the area and his elder brother is a major in the Pak Army. This young commander is known for his style, always having a J-3 gun snatched from security forces, keeping a Brazilian made dagger which is always attached to his shoulder. He desires to butcher his major brother with his dagger. Before this military assault, he used to decide the cases people brought before him.  He used to take a round of Shamozai area on horseback.  During a recent military action, Ghaffar survived three severe attacks by the Pakistani military. 
Commander Hamood belongs to Deolai area of Swat and is leading the insurgency in Kabal area. Before disappearing into his hideout, this strongly-built commander with shabby beard ran a medical business in Kabal area of Swat. Later on, as a result of his close relations with Maulana Fazlullah, his medical stores and medical laboratories were destroyed by the security forces. Hamood claims that during his career as militant he has had the honour of destroying two al-Khalid tanks in Kabal. 
 Fatih, in his late 40s, is another commander of Maulana Fazlullah presently leading the militants at Charbagh area of Swat. He was the first person who openly supported Maulana Fazlullah in Charbagh and presented a group of armed militants to the head of TTP Swat. He occupied a government-run madressah near Charbagh along with an Austrian hotel. Tall and smart, Fatih has never allowed the security forces to get into Charbagh.          
Mashar Roor (in local language means elder brother) is currently leading the militants in Mata area of Swat. According to militants, he has a charismatic personality and is considered to be a good trainer, schooling suicide bombers. Mashar Roor is also expert in making suicide jackets and vehicles being used for fidayee (suicide) attacks.  
Commander Shakir, in his late 20s, belongs to Qambar, a small town near Mingora city. Impressed by Maulana Shah Dawran he joined Tehreeki Taliban Swat and currently leads the militants in his hometown.
 Commander Ibne Amin is known for his skills as a sniper. He is considered to be a ruthless commander like Dadullah Akhund in the Taliban circle in Swat. Presently he leads a group of sniper-shooters in Kanju and its surrounding area while his main duty is to train new people in this field.
Commander Hafizullah, head of Taliban in Dir, is considered to be a close friend of Maulana Fazlullah. He has been in different fronts in Swat and is currently leading his men in Dir. He has  so far lost eight family members during this army operation.
 Maulana Khalil Malang is another leading Taliban commander. Once a government school teacher, Khalil left his job and joined the Fazlullah forces. Khalil is also a good orator who has delivered speeches on Taliban FM channel. When the Taliban occupied District Buner, Maulana was the person who led the militants there. The Government has from time to time claimed to have killed him but according to sources inside Taliban, he is alive and leading the militants at Buner.
Qari Jabbar, age 29, is leading his men in Malakand agency. Jabbar received jihadi training at a camp run by Harkatul Mujahideen at Mansehra district in the late 1990s.  Later on he went to Afghanistan but when the US toppled the Taliban establishment, he returned to his hometown in Malakand agency.  He also fought in Waziristan where he received some injuries to his left leg and walks with a limp.
The army operation is on, both parties seem quite determined to defeat each other as the common man worries about his future. The reward of going to heaven is one of the biggest motivations for the Taliban while the incentive from this war to the government is foreign aid -  but the  poor civilians of Swat have to bear the brunt of this war with no rewards.    
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