Fighter jets pounded the Swat valley, killing 40 Taliban militants as ground troops tried to flush them out of their fortified hideouts, the Army said on Saturday.Army spokesman Maj Nasir Ali said 40 Taliban were killed on Friday when fighter jets pounded the valley. A cache of ammunition exploded when it was hit in one of the air strikes, he said, adding that, the ground troops were advancing in the region on Saturday to root out other militant fighters. Taliban spokesman Muslim Khan said eight of his men, including a local commander, were killed.
Musa Khankhel and Delawar Jan add from Mingora and Peshawar: Militants on Saturday blew up a girls' school and eight houses owned by a union council Nazim and his brothers, while a policeman kidnapped a few weeks ago was killed. Taj Muhammad, along with his colleagues, was abducted a couple of weeks ago when he was taking ration to a security forces' check-post in Mamdheri, the former headquarters of the Fazlullah-led Taliban.
The body of Taj Muhammad was found in the Chuprial bazaar on Saturday. Of the 38 security officials held hostage by the Taliban militants, 33 had been abducted from the Deolai area of Kabal.
The killing of the policeman could be a reaction to the Friday's bombing by the security forces, which killed a militant commander, Mufti Saeedur Rahman, said to be the chief of a Shariah court established by the Taliban in the area.
Abdul Aziz, a local journalist working for a Mingora-based Urdu language newspaper, and two children had also fallen victims to the blitz, which destroyed seven houses.
In the Aka Maroof Bamakhel area, the militants blew up eight houses, owned by Jamshed Ali and his brothers, Qamar Ali, Muhammad Alam, Khurshaid, Hazrat Ali, Akbar Ali, Mehboob Ali and Shamsul Haq.
The militants are targeting public representatives and have killed several local politicians and their family members besides destroying their houses.The militants have prepared a hit list of several dozen notables and have pasted it in numerous areas.
In the Bishbanr area, the insurgents blew up a girls' primary school.The ISPR has announced the imposition of curfew in the Malakand region till further orders, while it would remain in force in Swat from 7 am to 8 pm on Sunday (today).
Meanwhile, NWFP Governor Owais Ahmad Ghani said on Saturday that the security situation in the tribal areas and the province had improved due to the measures taken by the government.
Addressing a function at the Governor House, he admitted that the people were dejected over the suicide attacks and bomb blasts, but he claimed the situation was improving. "The poor law and order has caused despondency among the people which is not a good sign, as a nation without willpower cannot overcome such crisis," he said. The government has initiated firm measures to remove despondency and succeeded in a number of efforts, he added.