Security forces backed by gunship helicopters and artillery have begun a ground offensive against pro-Taliban militants, killing at least 35 of them and losing two soldiers, the military said on Sunday. It was the first time ground troops had been used in the Swat region, said army spokesman Major General Waheed Arshad. He said the troops had gained control of mountaintops overlooking three militant-held villages near Mingora in an operation that was launched late on Saturday, reported AP. The troops controlled all entry and exit points to these villages, he added. He said 15 soldiers were also wounded. “The strongholds of militants are being hit. Troops have demolished their bunkers and destroyed a checkpost,” Arshad said.
Meanwhile, Swat Media Centre spokesman Amjad Iqbal told reporters that three policemen had been injured in fighting in the Balogram, Rahimabad and Barikot areas. Online reported that two of the policemen had sustained minor injuries when militants in Balogram and Rahimabad shot at a mobile police car. In another incident, a Suzuki van parked along the roadside exploded on Saturday night, injuring one soldier. He said security forces had ensured that mosques, madrassas and the civil population were not affected by Saturday nightÂ’s operation. An arms depot discovered in Kooza Bandai Government School had been destroyed, he added.
Curfew extended: Also on Sunday, the local administration announced a 24-hour extension to the curfew that has been in place since Saturday afternoon, enforcing it till 2pm on Monday. Earlier, a 24-hour curfew had been imposed from 2pm on Saturday till 2pm on Sunday. Local residents said artillery had been targeting militant positions in Dherai, Kooza Bandai and Najia Top, while gunship helicopters pounded rebel cleric Maulana FazlullahÂ’s headquarters in Imam Dherai and its surroundings, Daily Times staffers Daud Khattak and Saleem Athar reported. Several Taliban have been killed and injured in the previous 24 hours of fighting but the exact number of casualties could not be confirmed from any independent sources.
People of the restive areas continued fleeing their houses to escape to the relative safety of Mingora, Faizabad and Saidu Sharif. Telephone connections have been switched off and people in areas where the fighting is going on are facing food shortages. Local residents said the troops had stopped the delivery of any food items, medicine and other basic necessities of life to Taliban-held areas, resulting in residents facing serious food, healthcare and transportation problems.
Fazlullah visit: Meanwhile, Taliban sources said Maulana Fazlullah had visited militant positions in Najia Top, Kooza Bandai and Dherai and issued fresh instructions to his men. Briefing journalists a day earlier, NWFP caretaker Information Minister Imtiaz Hussain Gillani said the provincial government was planning to convene a grand jirga to discuss the trouble in Swat and suggest methods to defuse the tension there. He said the caretaker cabinet had decided to establish camps for the people of Swat displaced by the fighting between security forces and Taliban militants.
FM radio: Authorities have also set up their own FM radio station to counter the militant propaganda spread by FazlullahÂ’s pirate radio station.