Pakistan's border area with Afghanistan

Could be the next to go up in flames:


(graphic from article)

SWAT VALLEY, North-West Frontier Province - To Pakistan's Western allies, the military's attack on the radical Lal Masjid (Red Mosque) in Islamabad was a crackdown on a Taliban asset, much like crackdowns on other militant organizations across the country.

For the administration of Pakistani President General Pervez Musharraf, though, the move is viewed as the first blow against an emerging extremist armed movement committed to the enforcement of Islamic sharia law.

A leading figure in this movement summed it up on Thursday: "God willing, Pakistan will soon have an Islamic revolution." Maulana Abdul Aziz was speaking at the funeral of his brother, Abdul Rasheed Ghazi, who was one of more than 60 people killed in the seven-day siege of the Lal Masjid.

The brothers ran the pro-Taliban mosque and Aziz was apprehended outside the mosque before the main military action began on Tuesday.

With the Lal Masjid saga all but over now, the second phase in the battle against an "Islamic revolution" has began many kilometers away in the picturesque Swat district in North-West Frontier Province (NWFP).

Reaction to the events at the Lal Masjid has been the strongest here, as it is home to the banned pro-Taliban Tehrik-Nifaz-i-Shariat-i-Mohammadi (TNSM - Movement for the Enforcement of Islamic Laws).

The Pakistan Army has mobilized thousands of troops in the area, and on Friday it was declared "highly sensitive" and parts of it placed under an unofficial curfew. Over the past few days there have been incidents in which several security personnel have been killed.

[snip]

Fazalullah - "Maulana Radio" as he is widely known - runs FM stations that have been banned by the local authorities. One of his pet subjects is electronic goods, which he wants destroyed, including televisions.

"They [Pakistan Army] are here because they are a Pak-American army. They are here not to guard us but to protect British laws. We are the flagbearers of Islamic sharia - that's why they are here, to prevent us demanding Islamic law."

[snip]

Fazalullah was dismissive of the official charge that he is a member of the Taliban movement. "It is not a charge, it is an honor. I say that I am with the Taliban and I consider [Taliban leader] Mullah Omar as my amir [head]."

The TNSM was founded by Fazalullah's father-in-law, Sufi Mohammed, in the early 1990s. He gathered more than 10,000 youths to fight in Afghanistan when the US-led invasion began in 2001. With the Taliban withdrawing so fast, these youths took the brunt of the casualties.

When Sufi Mohammed returned from Afghanistan, he was arrested and put in jail, where he remains. The TNSM was almost destroyed, but it has become stronger over the past few years through the efforts of Fazalullah and his network of about 107 FM stations in Swat Valley and nearby Bajaur Agency.

Thousands of people - young and old - are part of the TNSM. Fazalullah calls it a peaceful movement in favor of virtue and against vice. The Western alliance in Afghanistan calls it a Taliban asset in Pakistan that distributes huge dividends to the Taliban movement. Pakistan calls it a serious threat to its national security.

Whatever the perspective, once the showdown starts between the Pakistan Army and the TNSM, one thing is sure: the conflict will transcend any borders.