Top Taliban Leaders Arrested in Pakistan’s Swat

Pakistan has arrested two senior Taliban leaders in the Swat Valley, northwest of the capital, including the movement’s spokesman, the army said. The detention of Muslim khan, who also served as a senior negotiator for the Taliban, and Mahmood Khan is meant to disrupt a militant effort to reorganize in Swat, three months after the army re-captured the valley from Taliban control. “The army is trying to consolidate its victory in Swat before it would attempt any other offensives,” notably against the main Taliban strongholds along the western border with Afghanistan, said Fazl Rahim Marwat, a political science professor at the University of peshawar in northwest Pakistan. Pakistan had offered a reward of 10 million rupees ($120,500) for both men, said Major General Ath Abbas, the Pakistan army spokesman. The top Taliban leader in Swat, Maulana FazlullahMaulana Fazlullah, heads the government’s list of wanted guerrillas, with an offer of 50 million rupees for his capture. Muslim Khan, -- Pakistan has arrested two senior Taliban leaders in the Swat Valley, northwest of the capital, including the movement’s spokesman, the army said. The detention of Muslim khan who also served as a senior negotiator for the Taliban, and Mahmood Khan is meant to disrupt a militant effort to reorganize in Swat, three months after the army re-captured the valley from Taliban control. “The army is trying to consolidate its victory in Swat before it would attempt any other offensives,” notably against the main Taliban strongholds along the western border with Afghanistan, said Fazl Rahim Marwat, a political science professor at the University of peshawar in northwest Pakistan. Pakistan had offered a reward of 10 million rupees ($120,500) for both men, said Major General Athar AbbasAthar Abbas, the Pakistan army spokesman. The top Taliban leader in Swat, Maulana Fazlullah, heads the government’s list of wanted guerrillas, with an offer of 50 million rupees for his capture.

Muslim Khan, 55, became the Swat Taliban’s main spokesman last year, leading a delegation that negotiated a truce with provincial authorities. As a fluent English-speaker, his “multilingual skills and his rich experience of working abroad in Western countries makes him a rare talent for the Taliban movement, a group that involves mostly madrasa graduates and illiterate activists55, became the Swat Taliban’s main spokesman last year, leading a delegation that negotiated a truce with provincial authorities. As a fluent English-speaker, his “multilingual skills and his rich experience of working abroad in Western countries makes him a rare talent for the Taliban movement, a group that involves mostly madrasa graduates and illiterate activists