Fresh reinforcements have reached Swat amid increasing fears of an operation against suspected militants in Dir district bordering Afghanistan’s Kunar province where Al Qaeda and the Taliban were giving a stiff resistance to the American and coalition forces, officials and eyewitnesses said on Friday.Authorities disconnected cell-phone services during the army movement to prevent the militants from using the service to plot attacks on the arriving soldiers. “The mobile-phone service was restored at 4:00pm,” said Jehanzeb, a shopkeeper. “The soldiers are positioning themselves in Timergara, the Lower Dir’s headquarters, and, as we know, this district is underlined for hosting militants, even foreigners,” said official sources in Peshawar wishing not to be named.
Military spokesman Maj Gen Waheed Arshad played down the significance of increased troops’ activity in Lower Dir. “We are there since long,” he told Daily Times. He, however, stopped short of saying that any operation in that district was also imminent. Army helicopters were patrolling the area to foil any attack on the security forces, said residents who were stuck at their homes due to a curfew.
Food supply: Authorities imposed a food blockade and a 12-hour curfew in Swat, AFP quoted officials as saying on Friday. Intelligence officials said food supplies to the areas where militants are holed up had been stopped. “Ten trucks loaded with food supplies were ordered last night to stop in Mingora,” an intelligence official said.
The residents told Daily Times that there was food shortage in Kabal, Matta, Kuzza Banda and adjoining areas. Government spokesman Amjad Iqbal said the curfew had been imposed because of the “operational needs” of the security forces.
Civilian killed: Akbar Khan, a civilian, was killed in Kabal tehsil as the security forces mistook him as a “potential threat”, the residents said. A government official regretted the loss of an “innocent civilian”. The military, however, said, “Police sources have confirmed that two suspected individuals heading towards Kabal police station were signalled to stop. They did not stop and therefore were fired upon.“Resultantly, one individual was killed and the other, who was believed to be wearing a suicide belt, fled the scene.” Gen Waheed said the media was “misreporting” about civilian casualties. He also denied that the government was doing little to help the displaced people. “The army is setting up a camp for such people in Risalpur,” he said. He gave no timeline as to when the Swat operation would be wound up. He said ground forces would be used if needed.
APP quoted an ISPR official as saying on Friday that the security forces arrested four miscreants in the Fazagat area of Swat when they were trying to flee the area disguised as women.
