Army takes charge of Swat operation
* Three militants injured as helicopters target hideouts
* Army spokesman says ‘notable militant’ involved in soldiers’ beheading arrested from Mingora
MINGORA: 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.
“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.”
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. 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’.
Militant arrested: Meanwhile, General Waheed told Daily Times that paramilitary troops had arrested a “notable militant leader” in Mingora and were currently interrogating him. He said the accused had been identified as Parwant and initial investigations revealed that he was involved in the beheading of police and paramilitary personnel along with supplying arms and ammunitions to militants.
The suspect was involved in “harbouring Al Qaeda militants” and of supplying arms to Maulana Fazlullah, a senior security official said on condition of anonymity. He is also a key suspect in the beheading of several paramilitary troops in Swat in October, shortly after the government pushed more than 2,000 troops into the area to combat Fazlullah’s supporters, the official said. “He is a main suspect in the violence in the region,” the official told AFP, without giving the arrested man’s name.
Source: Daily Times
Date:11/13/2007
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