Taliban Maneuvering for Position in Northwest

World | Sat, Apr 25, 2009 at 11:53:44 am PDT

Long War Journal is keeping close tabs on the disturbing advance of the Taliban into Afghan and Pakistani territory: Pakistani military, Taliban maneuver for position in northwest.

The Taliban blocked a military convoy from moving into the main town in Swat as rumors swirl that the military will launch an operation in the region over the next two days.

The Taliban surrounded a military convoy as it attempted to enter Mingora, the administrative seat of Swat. The Taliban surrounded the convoy “from all sides,” Dawn reported, and forced the military forces to retreat. The military “warned that if such a situation developed again, the armed forces would not hesitate to use force.”

The Taliban’s move against the military is the latest violation of the ceasefire agreement that put the Taliban in full control of Swat and consolidated their hold of the Malakand Division, an administrative region that encompasses more than one-third of the Northwest Frontier Province and includes the districts of Malakand, Swat, Shangla, Buner, Dir, Chitral, and Kohistan.