 Military spokesman Major General Waheed Arshad confirmed on Monday that the army had taken the lead role from paramilitary personnel in the operation in Swat.
| "Awright, youse! We're in charge now!" |
“Whatever steps are necessary will be taken now that the army has assumed the lead role in Swat,” he said, a day after President General Pervez Musharraf announced that the army will take control of operations from paramilitary forces, reported Online. “We will take on the operations today in coordination with the local and provincial authorities,” Arshad said. However, he did not say how long the army would remain in the area, reported AFP. “There is no timeframe, but rest assured the militants and criminals will be brought to book.”
| "Yep. They're really gonna get it! I'd get out of town if I was them!" |
Three injured: He told reporters that gunship helicopters had carried out an operation in which three militants were injured, while Online reported that four militants were also killed. The helicopters targeted militant positions in Pir Kalay, Sambat, Baryam and Bamakhela villages of Matta, Jalawat and Ghorija villages of Imam Dheri and Salanda area of Maglor. The rebels returned fire but military personnel reported no injuries.
Rebel cleric Maulana Fazlullah’s spokesman Sirajuddin confirmed the bombings and three injured. “Two injured were admitted to a hospital. We did not fire at the helicopters nor do we have anti-aircraft weapons to do so — if we had them we would definitely use them,” he told AFP. | He said it was not a military operation, but merely an “incident”. |
Reports from Matta suggested that cell-phone service had been disconnected in the area on Monday, although no reason was provided.
NWFP caretaker Home Minister Shahzada Gustasap told Daily Times that the military helicopters retaliated when they were fired upon. He said it was not a military operation, but merely an “incident”. He said the helicopters were attacked from the ground, and expressed ignorance about any injured militants as a result of the army helicopters’ ‘retaliatory fire’. |