The Pakistani military’s slow grind through the Taliban controlled district of Swat in the Northwest Frontier Province has finally reached Maulana Fazlullah’s stronghold in the town of Imam Dheri. After Fazlullah’s compound was overrun, troops found liquor and a prison. The Daily Times reports:
Though the reports are all sourced to often unreliable government officials, the finds at Fazlullah’s compound and madrassa are consistent with similar raids on Taliban complexes in Afghanistan and al Qaeda camps in Iraq. While al Qaeda and Taliban leaders push the worst forms of Sharia law on their subjects, they very often ignore their own laws. Abu Musab al Zarqawi, for example, is rumored to have had a penchant for pornography and other un-Islamic proclivities. Fazlullah is one of the most radical Taliban leaders in northwestern Pakistan. He has successfully organized campaigns against polio vaccination and girls schools throughout the region, while calling for the strictest version of Sharia to be implemented throughout Swat.
