FACTBOX-Facts about conflict in Pakistan's Swat
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May 4 (Reuters) - Pakistani forces battled Taliban fighters on Monday as the militants called the army and government U.S. stooges and said a peace pact in the Swat valley would end unless the government halted its offensive.
The ceasefire follows an agreement by authorities to enforce Islamic sharia law in the valley, until 2007 was one of Pakistan's prime tourist destinations.
Swat is likely to figure prominently in security talks in Washington this week between President Asif Ali Zardari, U.S. President Barack Obama and Afghanistan's President Hamid Karzai.
Here are some facts about the Taliban insurgency there.
* Islamist militancy emerged in Swat, an alpine beauty spot, in the 1990s when cleric Sufi Mohammad took up arms to impose sharia law in Swat and neighbouring areas of the Malakand region.
* Mohammad was arrested after he returned to Pakistan having led thousands of fighters to Afghanistan in 2001 in a vain attempt to help the Taliban resist U.S.-backed forces.
* Pakistani authorities released him in 2008 in a bid to defuse another uprising, led by his son-in-law cleric Fazlullah, who has ties with other Pakistani Taliban factions and al Qaeda.
* Fazlullah called his men to arms after a military assault on the Red Mosque in Islamabad in mid-2007 to put down an armed movement seeking to impose Islamic law. Fazlullah used illegal FM radio to propagate his message and became known as Mullah Radio.
* The army deployed troops in Swat in October 2007 and used artillery and gunship helicopters to reassert control. But insecurity mounted after a civilian government came to power last year and tried to reach a negotiated settlement.
* A peace accord fell apart in May 2008. After that hundreds, including soldiers, militants and civilians, died in battles.
* Militants unleashed a reign of terror, killing and beheading politicians, singers, soldiers and opponents. They banned female education and destroyed nearly 200 girls' schools.
* About 1,200 people were killed since late 2007 and 250,000 to 500,000 fled, leaving the militants in virtual control.
* Pakistan offered on Feb. 16 to introduce Islamic law in the Swat valley and neighbouring areas in a bid to take the steam out of the insurgency. The militants announced an indefinite ceasefire after the army said it was halting operations in the region. President Asif Ali Zardari signed a regulation imposing sharia in the area last month.
* But the Taliban refused to give up their guns and pushed into Buner and another district adjacent to Swat, intent on spreading their rule.
* Swat, about 130 km (80 miles) northwest of Islamabad, is not on the Afghan border. Nevertheless Western countries with troops in Afghanistan fear the area could turn into a bastion for militants fighting in both Afghanistan and Pakistan.
* Amid mounting concern at home and abroad, security forces launched an offensive to expel militants from Buner and another district near Swat on April 26.
* A Taliban spokesman said on Monday the peace pact would end unless the government halted its offensive. (For a related Q&A, click on [ISL162838]; for other stories on Pakistan and Afghanistan click on [ID:nSP102615) (Compiled by the World Desk +44 207 542 7917) (Editing by Robert Birsel and Jerry Norton)
May 4 (Reuters) - Pakistani forces battled Taliban fighters on Monday as the militants called the army and government U.S. stooges and said a peace pact in the Swat valley would end unless the government halted its offensive.
The ceasefire follows an agreement by authorities to enforce Islamic sharia law in the valley, until 2007 was one of Pakistan's prime tourist destinations.
Swat is likely to figure prominently in security talks in Washington this week between President Asif Ali Zardari, U.S. President Barack Obama and Afghanistan's President Hamid Karzai.
Here are some facts about the Taliban insurgency there.
* Islamist militancy emerged in Swat, an alpine beauty spot, in the 1990s when cleric Sufi Mohammad took up arms to impose sharia law in Swat and neighbouring areas of the Malakand region.
* Mohammad was arrested after he returned to Pakistan having led thousands of fighters to Afghanistan in 2001 in a vain attempt to help the Taliban resist U.S.-backed forces.
* Pakistani authorities released him in 2008 in a bid to defuse another uprising, led by his son-in-law cleric Fazlullah, who has ties with other Pakistani Taliban factions and al Qaeda.
* Fazlullah called his men to arms after a military assault on the Red Mosque in Islamabad in mid-2007 to put down an armed movement seeking to impose Islamic law. Fazlullah used illegal FM radio to propagate his message and became known as Mullah Radio.
* The army deployed troops in Swat in October 2007 and used artillery and gunship helicopters to reassert control. But insecurity mounted after a civilian government came to power last year and tried to reach a negotiated settlement.
* A peace accord fell apart in May 2008. After that hundreds, including soldiers, militants and civilians, died in battles.
* Militants unleashed a reign of terror, killing and beheading politicians, singers, soldiers and opponents. They banned female education and destroyed nearly 200 girls' schools.
* About 1,200 people were killed since late 2007 and 250,000 to 500,000 fled, leaving the militants in virtual control.
* Pakistan offered on Feb. 16 to introduce Islamic law in the Swat valley and neighbouring areas in a bid to take the steam out of the insurgency. The militants announced an indefinite ceasefire after the army said it was halting operations in the region. President Asif Ali Zardari signed a regulation imposing sharia in the area last month.
* But the Taliban refused to give up their guns and pushed into Buner and another district adjacent to Swat, intent on spreading their rule.
* Swat, about 130 km (80 miles) northwest of Islamabad, is not on the Afghan border. Nevertheless Western countries with troops in Afghanistan fear the area could turn into a bastion for militants fighting in both Afghanistan and Pakistan.
* Amid mounting concern at home and abroad, security forces launched an offensive to expel militants from Buner and another district near Swat on April 26.
* A Taliban spokesman said on Monday the peace pact would end unless the government halted its offensive. (For a related Q&A, click on [ISL162838]; for other stories on Pakistan and Afghanistan click on [ID:nSP102615) (Compiled by the World Desk +44 207 542 7917) (Editing by Robert Birsel and Jerry Norton)
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