Senior government officials have expressed concern over killings of people with alleged links to the Taliban, in some parts of Swat, prompted by locals' eagerness to avenge their sufferings at the hands of the Taliban before May 7. "I have been told of one such incident ... a man killed a [Taliban] sympathiser," NWFP Governor Owais Ghani told Daily Times. "We should be careful not to allow this to spread," said the governor. Military sources confirmed that such incidents had taken place in Kambar, a former stronghold of the Taliban; Kokore area near Saidu Sharif; and Mingora city. "A Kambar resident killed someone apparently for being a Taliban supporter," said the sources, and quoted the killer as saying that locals were "leading a terrible life now because of the Taliban".
According to the sources, the provincial government is anticipating that Swat residents might take on the Taliban themselves if "they get a chance to avenge the sufferings caused by the group's activities".
"One or two cases is not a problem, but if this spreads, the district may plunge into civil war ... this will be a great setback to government efforts aimed at retaking ground lost to the Taliban," said the sources.
Meanwhile, Mingora city would remain under curfew for "quite some time" as action against Taliban still in parts of Swat's border areas continues, said government sources. "There are a bunch of Taliban in the areas close to the border with Lower Dir and Buner districts ... the military is yet to flush them out," the civil and military sources told Daily Times, but refused to give a timeframe for the return of normalcy to the area.
While internally displaced persons have started returning to Mingora city, signs of normal life and confidence in the writ of the state have not surfaced yet: banks, government offices and police stations have not resumed normal operations and paramedics are hesitant to resume duty.
A densely-populated city of nearly half a million people, Mingora has been under curfew since May 8, when the army launched Operation Rah-e-Rast against the Taliban. "We are back home, but there are no signs of life," said a resident in Malookabad, referring to a ban on free movement in the city.