First Battle of Swat

First Battle of Swat (Operation Rah-e-Haq)
Part of War in North-West Pakistan
Date 25 October - 8 December 2007 (1 month, 1 week and 6 days) Location Swat Valley and Shangla, Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa Province, Pakistan Result Pakistani tactical victory Strategic failure Led to the short-lived 2009 ceasefire that eventually culminated in the decisive Second Battle of Swat
Belligerents
Pakistan Pakistani Army Pakistani Air Force	TTP TNSM
Commanders and leaders
Nasser Janjua Zahir Ali Khan	Maulana Fazlullah
Units involved
10th Infantry Division Police Service Forces No. 20 Squadron Eagles Frontier Corps 12th Regular Army Regiment
Strength
3,000-5,000	1,000
Casualties and losses
15 soldiers killed, 3 policemen killed 48 soldiers captured and then released	290 killed 143 captured
30 civilians killed

Pakistani tactical victory
Strategic failure

Pakistan

TTP

The First Battle of Swat, also known as Operation Rah-e-Haq, was fought between Pakistan and the Taliban in late 2007 over control of the Swat District of Pakistan.

The battle began on October 25, 2007 and involved the Pakistani Army and Taliban-led forces in a fight for control of the Swat district of Pakistan. From October 25, 2007, to November 7, 2007, the militants quickly seized control of the region. On November 15, 2007, a Pakistani offensive commenced.

On 24 October, more than 3,000 Pakistani infantry troops were sent to Swat to confront Taliban forces that were massing in the district in a bid to impose their version of Sharia law in the valley that included preventing women's education, death penalty for barbers, music shop owners, and thieves, along with an anti Polio-vaccination campaign to prevent the local population from getting vaccinated. The Pakistani infantry troops deployed to the hill-tops of the rugged terrain. On October 25, heavy fighting started with a suicide bomber attacking a paramilitary truck and killing 17 soldiers and 13 civilians. Fighting erupted in the hills with Taliban forces attacking military posts and the military attacking Taliban mountain hideouts. By 31 October, the military reported that up to 130 militant fighters were killed, however the next day about 700 militants overran a military position on a hill in Khwazakhela. Around 50 soldiers deserted their positions and another 48 were captured and paraded the next day. All of the soldiers were later freed. Also, police forces in Matta were completely surrounded by the end of the day. On 3 November, 120 police forces and paramilitary troops in Matta surrendered and then deserted after they were disarmed. The Taliban also overran the nearby town of Khwazakhela, thus taking two police stations and took a large arsenal of weapons that was in them. There was no major fighting until 7 November, when the Taliban continued their advance and took the town of Madyan. The police there also gave up their weapons, vehicles and control of local police stations. The insurgents occupied the floodplain side of the broad Swat river, which sweeps up towards the Hindu Kush mountains, while the remaining Pakistani infantry troops held the road that follows the steep, forested hills. This left the Taliban in control of most of the Swat district and by then they had already set up their own local 'governors' in Tehsil Kabal, Matta and Khawazkhela.

...
Wikipedia