Security forces on Tuesday resumed artillery fire on miscreantsÂ’ hideouts in the Matta and Kabal areas of Swat, as there were reports that rebel cleric Maulana Fazlullah may have been killed in the shelling.A Daily Times Monitoring report quoted Geo News as saying that rumours about FazlullahÂ’s death arose following the security forcesÂ’ shelling of rebel hideouts, but neither security officials nor Taliban leaders confirmed them.
Also on Tuesday, security forces targeted militant positions in Piochar and Ocharaee Sar in Swat. The troops also arrested a paramedic, Hilal Ahmad, on charges of providing first-aid to militants. Meanwhile, official sources told Daily Times that
| More than 500 miscreants – some of them close confidantes of Fazlullah’s and would-be suicide bombers – have been arrested by security forces since the launching of the operation. |
Meanwhile, the government said its writ had been restored in 90 percent of Swat, adding that Kabal was on high alert following a suicide bombing on Sunday. Curfew was also in place in areas between Baryam Bridge and Venai on Tuesday.
