ISLAMABAD: Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif on Wednesday announced the setting up of a permanent military base in the troubled Swat Valley where Taliban insurgents shot schoolgirl Malala Yousafzai in the head.
The scenic northwestern district slipped out of government control after Taliban fighters led by cleric Maulana Fazlullah, now chief of Tehrik-i-Taliban Pakistan (TTP), took control of the area in 2007 and waged a brutal campaign of beheadings, violence and multiple attacks on girls' schools.
By July 2009 the army declared the region back under their control, saying the rebels had all been killed, captured or fled, but more than 20,000 troops remained in Swat and adjacent districts.
“Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif has in principle approved and announced a brigade level cantonment for Swat and (adjacent) Malakand areas,” his office said in a statement, adding that the approval came during his visit to Swat.
“The prime minister lauded the role played by the army in bringing peace and stability to the area.”
Political Analyst Hasan Askari said the army's permanent presence will help prevent the return of Taliban insurgents to the area.
“It is because of the internal security situation and the threat of the return of militancy that the army is making a permanent presence in Swat,” he told AFP.
“Had the army not been there, Taliban would have been in power in Swat.”
Pakistani schoolgirl Malala Yousafzai, 16, became an international symbol of the right to education for all after surviving a 2012 Taliban attack in which she was shot in the head.
Nominated for the 2013 Nobel Peace prize, she was taken to Britain for treatment following the attack and goes to school in the central city of Birmingham.
Govt striving to de-radicalise youth: Nawaz
During his visit to the “de-radicalisation centre,” Prime Minister Sharif said the government desired to promote the atmosphere of peace, brotherhood and co-existence in the country.
He said the government was alive to the issues of backwardness, unemployment and economic deprivation in the country and was striving to address these through judicious distribution of resources.
The premier said that the de-radicalisation project has been lauded locally as well as internationally that has helped around 2,000 youngsters to live a normal life.
“I wish this programme is extended to other parts of the country as well, where the youth has adopted such course and require attention, they should be made healthy members of the society through constructive engagement. They are not enemies of Pakistan but have lost their direction,” the prime minister said.