Second Battle of Swat The Second Battle of Swat also known as " Operation Rah - e - Rast " , began in May 2009 and involved the Pakistani Army and Taliban militants in a fight for control of the Swat district of Pakistan . The first Battle of Swat had ended with a peace agreement , widely criticised in the west , that the government had signed with the Taliban in February 2009 . However , by late April 2009 government troops and the Taliban began to clash once again , and in May the government launched military operations throughout the district and elsewhere to oppose the Taliban . Battle for Mingora City . Fighting commenced in the largest and main city of the district , Mingora , between elite Pakistani commandos and about 300 Taliban militants positioned in deserted buildings and continued until 23 May 2009 , when a major Pakistani offensive retook much of the city . Amid heavy street fighting , the Pakistani Army captured large parts of the city , including several key intersections and squares . On 24 May , the Pakistani Army announced it had retaken large parts of Mingora . Major - General Athar Abbas , the Army ' s chief military spokesman , announced that " we want to eliminate the entire [ Taliban ] leadership " . Pakistani soldiers continued to engage the Taliban in street fighting and search buildings for Taliban fighters . Pakistani troops also retook several nearby towns previously under Taliban control . On 30 May , the Pakistani military announced that it had regained control of all of Mingora , though small pockets of resistance still remained in the city ' s outskirts . Fighting between Pakistani forces and Taliban militants continued in other areas . The Pakistani army claimed the death toll to be 1 , 200 Taliban fighters and 90 Pakistani soldiers . There were believed to be 200 , 000 people in Mingora as recently as a week prior to the eruption of hostilities . Following the lifting of a curfew , as of 23 May a large exodus left what was believed to be only 10 , 000 - 20 , 000 civilians in the town . Expansion of Operation . After retaking the town of Mingora the military moved on to Malam Jabba and Qamabr Bazar taking those towns and killing the TNSM leaders of those towns . On May 29 , the Army cleared Aman Kot and the Technical Institute College on the Mingora - Kokarai road in Mingora . On the same day , the village of Peochar in the Peochar Valley , as well as the town of Bahrain in the north of Swat , had been taken by the military . Sporadic fighting went on in the rest of Swat and in the Shangla district . Capture of Taliban Commanders . On June 4 , 2009 it was reported that Sufi Muhammad , the founder of Tehreek - e - Nafaz - e - Shariat - e - Mohammadi or TNSM , was arrested in Amandarra along with other militant leaders . In the coming days there was confusion over this claim since the Taliban themselves said that Muhammad was missing . However , several days later it was confirmed that Sufi Muhammad was not captured and was in hiding , while two of his aides were captured by the Army . Those two aides , Muhammad Maulana Alam and Ameer Izzat Khan , were killed when militants attacked the prison transport they were in on June 7 . On June 12 , in response to a bomb explosion at a mosque that killed 38 civilians , local Pakistani militia numbering between 1 , 000 and 1 , 500 surrounded almost 300 militants . The Pakistani army sent Helicopter Gunships to provide air support to militia fighting in the villages of Shatkas and Ghazi Gai , where the fiercest fighting took place . Pakistani paramilitaries also set up mortar positions on the high ground overlooking the villages . 20 homes suspected of housing Taliban fighters were destroyed . 11 Taliban militants were killed in the fighting . On June 12 , the Pakistani army captured the town of Chuprial in a fierce battle . 39 Taliban fighters and 10 Pakistani soldiers were killed . On June 14 , Pakistani soldiers began to clear the last pockets of resistance . On July 15 , clashes throughout the Swat valley left 11 Taliban militants and 1 Pakistani soldier dead , with the heaviest fighting taking place in the town of Kabal . The refugees that had fled their homes also began to return on July 15 . Final Assault . On September 11 , 2009 , the Pakistan Army announced that Muslim Khan and four other senior TNSM commanders were captured near Mingora . Maulana Fazlullah , however , remains at large . Maulana Fazlullah was actually hit in two air strikes , and was critically wounded and stranded for sometime in Imam Dehri without any access to medical assistance . Success of Operations . By August 22 , 1 . 6 million of 2 . 2 million refugees returned home , as per UN estimates . On January 11 , 2010 , Hayatullah Hamyo one of the TTP commanders in Swat was captured in Orangi Town in Karachi where he was keeping a low profile by working for PTCL ( Pakistan Telecommunication Company Ltd ) .