Trying to heal, Pakistan valley fears new battle

Schools have officially reopened. Soldiers stand guard at checkpoints and have established a semblance of order. Many thousands have returned here to a town that is mostly intact, if still under a military presence. But Mingora, a battle-scarred city in the Swat Valley, remains tense. Beneath the surface of relative calm, there is the sense that a new and more insidious conflict may be afoot, one that could take many months to play out before the fate of this once-prosperous region is ultimately decided. On Sunday morning, a body, hands bound with rope and shot in the back of the head, lay on the sidewalk of a main road. If no one knew precisely what to make of the body, it was a clear enough sign that the conflict in Swat was not over.