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| 100 feared dead in Swat aerial blitz |
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Monday, October 20, 2008
By Delawar Jan & Musa Khankhel
PESHAWAR/MINGORA: Some 100 people, including militants, were feared dead and scores of others injured when jet fighters targeted Barthana village in the militant-infested Matta Tehsil of Swat Valley on Sunday.
Confirmed reports, however, said at least 30 people, including 25 militants, were killed and scores of others injured in the air strike on Sunday morning in Barthana area. Dozens of houses were flattened by the bombardment and efforts were on to retrieve the dead and injured from the rubble by the local people.
After receiving tip-off about the presence of militants in Barthana village, the security forces targetted it from jet fighters. Though there were conflicting reports about the number of casualties due to suspension of communication system, there were confirmed reports of 30 casualties.
A press release of the ISPR-run Swat Media Centre (SMC) claimed that 25 militants were killed in the attack. It said that the forces also destroyed the Hujra of a militant commander, Alamgir, which was being used as a den in Barthana area of the Matta Tehsil, besides the destruction of an ammunition depot.
Spokesman for the Swat chapter of the banned Tehrik-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP), Muslim Khan, told The News from an undisclosed location that they had retrieved more than 30 bodies from the rubble of the houses.
He said that 35 houses had been destroyed in the aerial strike and dozens of people were still feared to be stranded under the rubble. However, he was quick to claim that none of the Taliban fighters had been killed in the attack and all the victims were civilians, mostly children and women.
“Jets hit a house in Barthana, killing scores of people. While the people were engaged in retrieving the bodies of the people when jets reappeared and attacked the rescuers,” he alleged.
Some reports suggested that 100 people, including Taliban fighters and their commanders, were killed. Local sources said that 15 civilians, including women and children, also died in the attack while another 35 sustained serious injuries. A mosque and several shops were also destroyed in the bombing.
Sources told The News that a linesman, Adam Khan and six members of his family, four persons of another linesman Mian Gul’s family, 10 members of Ghulam Rabbani’s family and six of a family in the nearby Pishtonai and Qawi area were killed in the blitzkrieg.
In a separate incident, a soldier and three militants were killed in exchange of fire following an improvised explosive device (IED) attack on the security forces’ convoy in Sarsinai area of the adjoining Kabal Tehsil.
The militants attacked a convoy of the security forces with IED but they suffered no casualty. Following the blast, an exchange of fire between the insurgents and the security forces took place in which, according to the SMC, three militants, including the operator of the IED, were gunned down while a soldier also died in the incident.
In the same area, two children, Irfan and Shagufta, were killed and six others, including two women, injured when their houses were hit by mortar shells. Meanwhile, Cheena Market comprising 1,200 shops remained closed for the second straight day on Sunday in the wake of threats to owners to stop women from shopping or the whole market would be blown up.
The militants blew up a tourist resort owned by central leader of the Awami National Party and former federal minister, Afzal Khan Lala, in Jali Gudar area of the Matta Tehsil. In Totano Bandai, the militants fired seven rockets at a checkpost of the security forces but no human and material loss was reported in the incident.
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ISSN 1563-9479 
