Everyone is scared.

Swat diary: ‘Taleban rule now’

clipped from news.bbc.co.uk Munir (not his real name), an administrator in the Swat region of north-west Pakistan, describes the challenges of daily life in his valley as the Taleban and the army vie for influence. In recent weeks, he says, the Taleban have gained the upper hand and are making their presence felt in brutal fashion. Over the last five to six days 13 bodies have been found in our area. In Mingora [capital of Swat] bodies are laid out in the square called Green Chowk. Hundreds come and look at the dead bodies. Sometimes they have been beheaded, sometimes they are just shot. The deadline of 15 January that the Taleban have set for girls schools to close down is a false deadline. Schools have already closed. Dozens have been burned to the ground. Here, nobody really fully knows who belongs to the Taleban. The militants are obvious, the sympathisers are not. There is no trust. The issue becomes complicated when reporters come to the district. Nobody is willing to talk to them. Everyone is scared.