| Submit your comments on this article |
| India-Pakistan |
| Three militants die in Swat |
| 2009-07-19 |
| [The News (Pak) Top Stories] Three militants, including a commander, and a class-1V employee of the Matta police station, were killed on Saturday in incidents of violence and the military operation in different parts of Swat Valley. The militants, who were on the run after the full-scale military operation in Swat Valley, appeared to be attempting to re-start their terrible activities in Matta Tehsil, their former stronghold in the valley. A class-1V employee working at the Matta police station, identified as Iqbal, was slaughtered late on Friday night at his home in Sambat Cham area of Matta. This is perhaps the first incident of beheading after the military operation. The incident, at a time when security forces are still after the militants, triggered panic among the people. There were reports of police action after the killing of the class-1V employee but that could not be confirmed. The district police officer of Swat was said to be unavailable at his official residence when reached by this correspondent to confirm whether there was any police action after the slaying of Iqbal. Security forces claimed to have cleared the valley of Taliban, asking all the displaced people to return. The locals also believe that most parts of the valley have been purged of the militants. However, there were still some areas where the Taliban were reported to be present. "I can say with conviction that there will be no problem from Landakay to Mingora but effective action is still needed in parts of Matta and Kabal," a resident of Mingora said, asking not to be named. The major military operation might have ended in Swat Valley but security forces are still busy in mopping up operation against the Taliban militants, locals said. The Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR) said security forces continued a search and clearance operation in Swat and Buner districts. It claimed that two militants, including a commander Abu Bakar, were killed in Chamtalai, and another was killed in Kanju Township during the search operation. During the search operation in Shangla and Shakardarra, it added, security forces recovered three rockets, mortars, improvised explosive devices (IEDs) and ammunition. In Buner, security forces conducted a search operation in Bachkata near Daggar and destroyed seven terroristsà hideouts. The locals reported that there was still problem in Malikpur, Balo Khan, Mulla Banda, Dokada, Hisar, Gokand and Bachkata. However, the Frontier Corps, leading the operation in Buner, rejected such reports as untrue. A press release, issued in reaction to a story in this paper about resurfacing of the Taliban, said here on Saturday that the militants were not present in aforementioned areas. The communication reasserted that there was no resurfacing of the Taliban in Buner and their command structure had been destroyed. "They (Taliban) do not have any capability to launch organised militancy against the locals or the government agencies," it said. However, the press release said minor occasional acts of terrorism could not be ruled out. In Bannu district, the ISPR said, the militants launched an attack in Jandola which resulted in the killing of a soldier. Besides, an IED explosion near Janikhel during a routine patrol injured three soldiers. |
| Posted by:Fred |