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| Militants occupy government offices in Swat |
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Wednesday, May 06, 2009
18 killed in fierce fighting as thousands flee; Muslim Khan claims 90 pc control over valley; minister fears displacement of 500,000 people
By our correspondent
MINGORA: Militants on Tuesday attacked the DIG office, Commissioner Office, police station and museum in Saidu Sharif and finally captured the DIG office as the fighting between security forces and militants raged in the Swat valley, which left 18 dead and 20 others injured.
In the gun battle between security forces and militants about 18 people, including three militants and two personnel of security forces, were killed and 20 others injured in different parts of the restive Swat valley.
Sources said clashes between security forces and militants were going on in Mingora city, Khwazakhela, Barikot and Shamozai areas, while heavy shelling was witnessed in Qambar area.
The shelling and firing continued overnight in which scores of houses were destroyed. While talking to reporters, Taliban spokesman Muslim Khan claimed militants were in control of ‘90 per cent’ of the valley and said their actions were in response to “Army violations of the peace deal.”
The NWFP government, however, accused the Taliban of not honouring their commitments under the peace deal despite the announcement of Darul Qaza in the Malakand Division.
Scare and panic spread among the people when the District Coordination Officer (DCO) Khushal Khan directed the residents of the Mingora city, Amankot, Makanbagh, Qambar and Rahimabad areas to leave for safer places when the curfew was relaxed for five hours.
About 40,000 people fled the areas soon after the directives of the DCO, but on the intervention of the local MPA, Sher Shah, the DCO had to withdraw his directives and asked the people to stay back in their homes.
Security forces continued shelling the hideouts of the militants, while militants fired rockets and mortar shells at the commissioner house, grid station, circuit house, police station and police posts in Mingora city, Barikot and Shamozai areas in which over a dozen of people were killed.
Two security forces personnel were also injured in clashes with militants, but their identities could not be ascertained. According to the Swat Media Centre, a number of militants were killed during fighting with security forces.
Huge explosions were heard during the night in Mingora where militants also attacked office of the Deputy Inspector General Of Police (DIG), Police Station at Saidu Sharif and museum with rockets and finally occupied the DIG office, which had already been vacated by the officials. Sub-Inspector Syed Ail Shah was killed during the clash, which was going on around the police station till the filing of this report.
The fierce fighting between security forces and militants also continued in the Frontier Constabulary (FC) camp in Mingora. Electricity had been suspended in most of the areas of Swat after militants attacked the grid station.
It was reported that unidentified gunmen kidnapped one Jamroz Khan from Kokarai area of the Mingora city. An Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR) statement said that militants in Swat blew up a police station and fired rockets at posts of security forces at Shangla Top, Shamzoi Bridge, Bariam bridge and grid station, Mingora.
Militants also looted a store of the World Food Programme in Swat and took away bags of wheat and cans of edible oil, the statement said. Curfew in Swat was relaxed from 01:30 pm till 07:00 pm, the DCO said on Tuesday, adding that residents of Mingora city should immediately vacate the restive areas.
However, later on when fighting intensified curfew was imposed in Mingora. According to BBC, militants have occupied important government offices, including commissioner Malakand division, DIG, Frontier Reserve Police, district nazim and police investigation offices, in Saidu Sharif.
Provincial Minister for Information Mian Iftikhar Hussain confirmed militants’ control over commissioner and DIG offices, however, he expressed ignorance about other office. AP adds: Meanwhile, Thousands of people fled fighting between the Taliban and troops that the government said it could lead to an exodus of half a million people.
Buses carrying the residents of Mingora were crammed inside and out: Refugees clambered onto the roofs after seats and floors filled up. Children and adults alike carried their belongings on their heads and backs - all of them fleeing fighting they fear is about to consume the region.
Khushal Khan, the top administrator in Swat, said Taliban militants were roaming the area and laying mines. A witness in Mingora told an Associated Press regrouping alarm at home and abroad. The army responded with an offensive that it says has killed more than 100 militants, but has yet to evict them.
“Everything will be OK once our rulers stop bowing before America,” Muslim Khan, the Taliban spokesman, told The Associated Press by cell phone, adding the peace deal had “been dead” since the operation in Buner.
Khushal Khan, the Swat official, said curfew was suspended so people could leave Mingora, and a camp was set up for the displaced in a nearby town. Hundreds were leaving, according to an AP reporter in Mingora.
“We are leaving the area to save our lives,” said Sayed Iqbal, a 35-year-old cloth merchant who was putting household goods in a pickup truck already loaded with his elderly parents, wife and two children. “The government has announced people should leave the area. What is there left to say?”
Mian Iftikhar Hussain, the NWFP Information Minister, said up to 500,000 people were expected to flee the valley. Hundreds are already gone, adding to roughly half a million people driven from other regions in the northwest over the last year by fighting between soldiers and insurgents, witnesses said. Hussain said authorities were releasing emergency funds and preparing six new refugee camps to house them.
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ISSN 1563-9479 
