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10 militants killed as army gunships pound targeted hideouts in Swat |
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Updated at:
1830
PST, Sunday, October 28, 2007 |
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ISLAMABAD: Troops backed by gunship helicopters killed 10 militants loyal to a radical pro-Taliban cleric on Sunday in northwest Pakistan in the third straight day of clashes, officials said.
Troops targeted hideouts of the militants in scenic Swat valley, the stronghold of religious leader Maulana Fazlullah, who has been driving a fierce campaign to introduce Islamic Sharia law.
Three civilians were also killed and one security guard among 20 were wounded. According to other reports 11 security men were killed.
"We have reports that 10 extremists were killed in the action," chief military spokesman Major General Waheed Arshad said.
He accused the militants of terrorising and killing local villagers in the region, which used to be a popular tourist destination in the conservative North West Frontier Province.
"We needed to take tough action against a handful of these extremists who are trying to defy the government's writ and terrorise local people," he said.
Hundreds of people were reported fleeing towns and some roads were closed in Swat where clashes between the paramilitary troops, backed up by police, and the militants loyal to Fazlullah started on Friday.
Militants have seized and beheaded 13 people in recent days in the wake of the clashes although a spokesman for Fazlullah has denied that his loyalists were involved in the gruesome killings.
An explosion ripped through a paramilitary vehicle on Thursday killing up to 30 people in an apparent reaction to the deployment one day earlier of more than 2,000 troops to the area to help combat the militants.
Officials said three other militants and two civilians have been killed, along with those beheaded, since the clashes started.
The violence has hit normal life in the region, bringing markets and other trade to a standstill as people flee the area to safety, officials said.
Security forces have entered Manglor village, 10 kilometres (six miles) northeast of Mingora, the main town in Swat valley, and forced militants to flee their hideouts, Major General Waheed said.
"They are operating to establish the writ of the government in areas where miscreants have threatened public peace and order. The security forces have extended their positions," he said.
Troops were consolidating their ground in Manglor after the raids by gunship helicopters. Violence first erupted in Swat in July, when militants mounted revenge attacks on the army after government troops stormed the Al-Qaeda-linked Red Mosque in the Pakistani capital, Islamabad.
The Swat valley used to attract a large number of foreign guests drawn by its Buddhist heritage and archaeological sites.
But the area in the province bordering Afghanistan has in the past two years become a stronghold of Fazlullah's banned group, Tahreek Nifaz-e-Shariat Mohammadi (TNSM).
Security officials say the group is linked to Osama bin Laden's Al-Qaeda network and Afghanistan's ousted Taliban regime.
Fazlullah is also known as "Mullah Radio" for his fiery radio speeches in which he calls for the imposition of Islamic Sharia law and for a holy war on security forces. |
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ISSN 1563-9479 
