Hundreds of Pakistani refugees were stopped from returning to their homes in the Swat Valley on Friday, even after the army chief said the battle against the Taleban there had “decisively turned” in the military's favor. Meanwhile, authorities confirmed arrests of three aides of a hard-line cleric who brokered a failed peace agreement in the northwest valley, while US envoy Richard Holbrooke was in the country assessing the refugee situation caused by the fighting. Pakistani leaders insist they are serious about wiping out militancy in Swat, a one-time tourist haven that largely fell under Taleban control over the past two years. The US backs the operation and sees it as a test of the government's resolve in taking on Al-Qaeda and Taleban militants along the Afghan border region. The generally broad public support in Pakistan for the operation, however, could falter if conditions worsen for the up to three million displaced civilians, many of whom are impatient to go home. An Associated Press reporter on Friday saw hundreds of Swat residents at Got Koto, an area just outside the valley. The Swatis had heard reports the government would lift a curfew in the main town of Mingora to let them return home. But security forces on a main road stopped them, saying they could not allow civilians back in just yet. “I want nothing from the government. I only want that we should be allowed to go back to our Mingora city,” said Dilawar Khan, 40, as his four children and two wives stood by him under the shade of a tree. Khan and his family had been staying at a relief camp in Mardan. Zubayda Bibi, one of his wives, complained about conditions at the camps, located in areas that are much warmer than what Swat residents are accustomed to. “We can no longer sit at the camps where there is only dust, diseases and heat,” she said. Even if damaged, “home is better than anything.” The army launched its latest operation in Swat about month ago after the militants undermined the peace deal brokered earlier this year by infiltrating a neighboring district just 60 miles (100 kilometers) from the capital, Islamabad. That truce, in which the government agreed to impose Islamic law in the valley and surrounding areas, was mediated by militant cleric Sufi Muhammad. The military said security forces detained Muhammad's deputy Maulana Alam, his spokesman Ameer Izzat Khan, and another aide, Syed Wahab, during a raid to nab suspected militants at a religious school in a district near Swat. Officers seized eight hand grenades and other munitions at the site, the army statement said. Muhammad's whereabouts were not immediately clear, but various officials said he was not detained. The army's top spokesman has estimated it will take at least another two months before the Swat Valley is cleared of militants. The military expects to stay in the region at least another year, largely because the area lacks a solid police presence. During a briefing with commanders Thursday, army chief Gen. Ashfaq Parvez Kayani said the tide in Swat had “decisively turned” and that major population centers and roads leading to the valley were rid of Taleban resistance.
