Drug peddlers have been flogged, music shops closed and girls older than 13 barred from going to schools as Taliban enforces Islamic law in Pakistan's northeast Swat valley.
Taliban writ is the only thing that counts for those who break the Sharia law which has been implemented since the Pakistan Army has given up its control under an agreement with the militants to establish peace in the region.
In Mingora, 175 km from Islamabad, hooded Talibani enforcers are patrolling the streets and meeting out summary justice, The Times reported on Thursday. In front of large crowd they flog people who have broken edicts set by Taliban. Drug addicts and dealers are held down in the dust by heavily armed militants and flogged. They cry out in pain shouting for Allah. The punishment is brutal but has popular support, the report said.
The valley has now been transformed into Afghanistan of 2001. Under the agreement, Taliban can administer the region, run Sharia courts, ban women from marketplaces, outlaw music shops and stop girls above 13 going to school, the paper said.
"I send a message to the people of the West: stop spending money on tanks and aircraft and attacking the poor people of the world. Look after your own poor people and let
us be. Change your policies. You cannot win here or in Afghanistan. Keep out," the report quoted Muslim Khan, a US educated English-speaking Taliban leader, as saying.
