Gloom over Swat Valley

PESHAWAR, Pakistan — Several weeks into a military campaign to flush out extremists from a valley north of Pakistan's capital, the Pakistani military says intercepted communications show it has insurgents on the run.

"How are you? Is everything all right?" said the main Taliban commander in the Swat Valley, Maulana Fazlullah, according to the military officials, who say they intercepted the conversation over a handheld radio.

There was no response.

"Don't lose morale," Fazlullah said. "Go into the trees and take the sniper rifles with you. Take aim and fire. You should be able to kill at least one or two."

The exchange is part of a series of conversations among Taliban rebels in Swat the Pakistani military says it has recorded since the beginning of its offensive there in May.

The exchanges in Pashto were transcribed, translated into Urdu, Pakistan's official language, and compiled in a logbook by intelligence officials here, according to senior Pakistani military officials. They allowed The New York Times to read the log, although there was no way to verify its authenticity or its contents independently.

The Pakistani military officials contended the snippets were proof the rebels had suffered a serious setback in Swat, a scenic valley just north of here that had become a Taliban stronghold.

But they also highlight the frustration of U.S. officials and Pakistani citizens over the Pakistani military's seeming ability to monitor Taliban leaders, including Fazlullah, while it is unable — or unwilling — to kill or capture them.

While the Taliban leaders remain at large, the millions of Pakistanis who have fled Swat and other conflict areas are reluctant to return to their homes. In a text message to journalists Monday night, a group of liberal activists from Swat said they would not believe the military was serious about its campaign unless Fazlullah and his five deputies were killed.

The Swat campaign, which began May 8, is seen as a test case for Pakistan's resolve to tackle its spreading insurgency, which came as close as 60 miles from its capital, Islamabad, this year. Two earlier offensives failed, criticized as halfhearted efforts that inflicted too many civilian casualties.

But this operation is different, military officials contend, because the army has committed more than twice the number of troops and has broad public support, opening a potential opportunity for the government to re-establish its authority.

Although the military campaign in Swat is not over, the rebel chatter in recent weeks sounded gloomy, according to the log presented by the Pakistani military officials.

There were some inspirational words, some jihad rallying cries, but also many lost, hungry and isolated voices. One resident of a village, Khazara, said Taliban leaders gathered locals in the Minara Mosque shortly before he and his family fled, demanding contributions of a gun, a son, or 50,000 rupees in cash (about $620), but few obliged.

Last Wednesday, a rebel who called himself Abu Daud asked urgently: "Where are the five boys we trained? Where are they? Bring them here because we need them."

The response was not encouraging: "One has been killed and two are alive. I don't know about the others."

The insurgents were careful not to identify locations, using a system of code names instead, many of them Arabian battles. The military thinks top leaders, including Fazlullah, are still hiding in Swat, and have not escaped to another area.

A Pakistani military official said the operation had reduced the area for the FM radio station run by Fazlullah to just 15 percent of its former coverage area.

The area of fighting has been off-limits to journalists, and it is not possible to verify the military's claims of the capture of rebels or of casualties it inflicted. It also remains unclear how much of a fight the rebels have put up. Guerrillas often melt away when faced with superior firepower, only to resurface later. About eight brigades — approximately 16,000 troops — were committed to the offensive, more than double that of past campaigns.

A Swat resident who fled, Adnan Rashid, said in the later stages of the fighting, rebels were shooting very short bursts from their guns, so as not to waste bullets.

The Pakistani military official said about 50 people had been taken into custody. Two were Afghans, the military official said, and a handful were from South Waziristan. Two dead bodies were of Uzbeks, the official said.

According to the radio transcripts, a man who called himself Jawad fumed on May 27 that villagers were raising white flags on their houses. "Why are these gutless people holding white flags?" he asked.

Another man responded: "Everyone has their own will. How can we stop them?"

Earlier, in a public meeting, everyone had supported them, Jawad said. "Tell them if they are scared they should leave, but no one should raise a white flag," he said.