Wakhi is an Indo-European language in the Eastern Iranian branch of the language family spoken today in Wakhan District, Northern Afghanistan and also in Tajikistan, Northern Pakistan and China.
Swat District, also known as the Swat Valley, is a district in the Malakand Division of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Pakistan. With a population of 2,309,570 per the 2017 national census, Swat is the 15th-largest district of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa with many popular tourist attractions.
Lieutenant General Hamid GulHI(M) SI(M) SBt was a three-star rank army general in the Pakistan Army and defence analyst. Gul was notable for serving as the Director-General of the Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI), Pakistan's premier intelligence agency, between 1987 and 1989. During his tenure, Gul played an instrumental role in directing ISI support to Afghan resistance groups against Soviet forces in return for funds and weapons from the US, during the Soviet–Afghan War, in co-operation with the CIA.
Bishigram (بیشیگرام) valley is located in Swat District of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Pakistan.
Torwali is an Indo-Aryan language spoken by the Torwali people, and concentrated in the Bahrain and Chail areas of the Swat District in Pakistan. The Torwali language is said to have originated from the pre-Muslim communities of Swat. It is the closest modern Indo-Aryan language still spoken today to Niya, a dialect of Gāndhārī, a Middle Indo-Aryan language spoken in the ancient region of Gandhara.
Gawri (ګاوری), also known as Kalami (کالامي), or Bashkarik, is an Indo-Aryan language spoken in Swat Kohistan region in the upper Swat District and in the upper Panjkora river valley of Upper Dir District, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Pakistan.
Dawoodi, also known as Domaakí, Dumaki or Domaá, is an endangered Indo-Aryan language spoken by a few hundred people living in the Gilgit-Baltistan territory in northern Pakistan. It is historically related to the Central Indo-Aryan languages of the Indian Midlands, though it has been significantly influenced by its neighbours.
Hindkowans, also known as the Hindki, is a contemporary designation for speakers of Indo-Aryan languages who live among the neighbouring Pashtuns, particularly the speakers of various Hindko dialects of Western Punjabi (Lahnda). The origins of the term refer merely to the speakers of Indo-Aryan languages rather than to any particular ethnic group. The term is not only applied to several forms of "Northern Lahnda" but also to the Saraiki dialects of the districts of Dera Ghazi Khan, Mianwali, and Dera Ismail Khan, which border the southern Pashto-speaking areas.
The Kho or Chitrali people, are an Indo-Aryan ethnolinguistic group native to the Chitral District in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and the Gupis-Yasin and Ghizer districts in Gilgit-Baltistan of Pakistan. They speak an Indo-Aryan language called Khowar.
Operation Black Thunderstorm was a military operation that commenced on April 26, 2009, conducted by the Pakistan Army, with the aim of retaking Buner, Lower Dir, Swat and Shangla districts from the Tehrik-i-Taliban Pakistan after the militants took control of them since the start of the year.
The Second Battle of Swat also known as Operation Rah-e-Rast, began in May 2009 and involved the Pakistan Army and Tehrik-i-Taliban Pakistan militants in a fight for control of the Swat district of Pakistan. The first Battle of Swat had ended with a peace agreement, that the government had signed with the Tehrik-i-Taliban Pakistan in February 2009. However, by late April 2009 government troops and the Tehrik-i-Taliban Pakistan began to clash once again, and in May the government launched a military offensive code-named Operation Black Thunderstorm throughout the Swat district and elsewhere to oppose the Tehrik-i-Taliban Pakistan.
Hazarewal is term used for the multi-ethnic predominantly Hindko-speaking community belonging to the Hazara region of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa.
In 2008, Pakistan saw 40 terrorist attacks, which caused 154 fatalities and 256 injuries.
The 2011 Afghanistan Ashura bombings were a pair of bombings in the Afghan capital of Kabul and Mazar-e-Sharif. The Kabul suicide bombing took place at around noon local time, on the day when Muslims commemorate Ashura, an annual holy day throughout the Muslim world particularly by the Shi'a Muslims.
Malala Yousafzai is a Pakistani female education activist and the 2014 Nobel Peace Prize laureate at the age of 17. She is the world's youngest Nobel Prize laureate, the second Pakistani and the first Pashtun to receive a Nobel Prize. Yousafzai is a human rights advocate for the education of women and children in her native homeland, Swat, where the Pakistani Taliban had at times banned girls from attending school. Her advocacy has grown into an international movement, and according to former Prime Minister Shahid Khaqan Abbasi, she has become Pakistan's "most prominent citizen."
I Am Malala: The Story of the Girl Who Stood Up for Education and was Shot by the Taliban is an autobiographical book by Malala Yousafzai, co-written with Christina Lamb. It was published on 8 October 2013, by Weidenfeld & Nicolson in the UK and Little, Brown and Company in the US.
Manglawar is an administrative unit, known as Union council of Tehsil Babuzai, of Swat District in the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province of Pakistan and former capital of Kingdom of Swat. It is located at 34°48'30.7"N 72°25'50.0"E with an average altitude of 987 meters.
On 20 January 2016, four terrorists opened fire at Bacha Khan University near Charsadda, Pakistan. It is located in the Charsadda District of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa. At least 22 people were killed and over 20 others were wounded. Over 200 students were rescued from the premises, while the terrorists were killed by security forces. The Tariq Geedar Afridi faction of the Tehrik-i-Taliban claimed responsibility for the attack.
Zubair Torwali is a community activist, linguist and educator based in Bahrain, Pakistan who has sought to preserve and promote Pakistan's Dardic cultures and languages. He has authored and supervised a number of books in and about Torwali. His book in English, Muffled Voices, provides insight into Pakistan's social, cultural, and political issues. Zubair Torwali is the Editor of "We Mountains" magazine which covers the culture of the Pakistani Himalayas. The author is a prolific writer of research papers and articles written for English dailies and weeklies of Pakistan. He is the founder of Idara Baraye Taleem-o-Taraqi, an organisation promoting the rights of marginalised language communities of northern Pakistan. He is author, researcher and public speaker. He is a member of the Human Rights Commission of Pakistan, a Fellow of Japan's 2013 Asian Leadership Fellow Program and was shortlisted for the International Bremen Peace Award 2015. Mr. Torwali is also a Public Peace Prize laureate "…for his extraordinary commitment to giving a voice to the unheard by helping increase literacy in the indigenous people of Northern Pakistan". He was awarded the 2012 Hellman-Hammett Grant by Human Rights Watch." In 2021 I.B.T. whose Director is Zubair Torwali was chosen for the Linguapax International Award. A graduate of Jahanzeb College in Swat, Pakistan, he has completed master's studies at University of Peshawar.
The Torwali people are an Indo-Aryan ethnolinguistic group located in the Swat district of Pakistan. The Torwali people have a culture that values the telling of folktales and music that is played using the sitar. They speak an Indo-Aryan language called Torwali.
