=> * Pound suspected militant hideouts with artillery
* Pound suspected militant hideouts with artillery
* Arrest 10 suspects in Swat, Batkhela crackdown
MINGORA: The army on Saturday continued efforts to reestablish control over towns taken back from militants of pro-Taliban cleric Maulana Fazlullah, and pounded suspected militant hideouts with artillery, officials said.
Local government spokesman Hasan Jan told reporters that the operation against militants was still underway in Swat district and that security forces had reinforced their positions in towns taken back from militants. The Peochar area in Matta tehsil was the target of artillery fire, where intelligence said the militants had training camps and command and control structures. “The Peochar area h@ been pounded and we are getting good results,” the spokesman claimed.
Suspected militants nabbed: During the search for miliitants, the security forces arrested five suspects from the Fizaghat and Ayub Bridge and Kuzabanda areas, the spokesman said.
Security forces also detained another five suspected militants, including a local comÂmander, during a crackdown in Swat and Batkhela on Saturday, a staff report quoted an official as saying.
The five suspects caught in Batkhela were reportedly planning to ambush a military convoy. They are said to be involved in recent attacks on security forces in the same area. The security forces and pro-peace volunteers torched the house of pro-Taliban commander Muslim Khan, close aide to Maulani Fazlullah, before seizing ammunition, explosives, jihadi literature and automatic weapons from his residence in Kuzabanda Unofficial reports said that the security forces killed a rickshaw driver for violating curfew in Mingora city near a paramilitary force camp in Kanju, however, no official confirmation was available.
Source: Daily Times
Date:12/16/2007
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