Troops on Wednesday seized Maulana Fazlullah’s base in Swat, where nearly two weeks of clashes have killed around 250 militants, officials said. “Security forces entered the town of Imam Dheri, the main base of Maulana Fazlullah,” provincial government spokesman Amjad Iqbal told AFP. The whereabouts of Fazlullah, however, remain unknown.“He has gone underground,” the official said. Security sources in the area said the cleric’s close aides have also fled, including his spokesman, Maulana Sirajuddin. They quoted residents as saying they [Fazlullah’s men] were seen heading for the mountains. Iqbal said security forces were in “complete control” of a large stretch of Kabal district after shelling suspected insurgent locations with artillery and mortar fire.
Locals destroy militant bunkers: As the militants fled, people in a number of towns destroyed the fortified bunkers they left behind, Iqbal said, adding that authorities would on Thursday extend a break in the curfew to allow residents time to demolish the remaining positions.
He said foreign militants were fighting alongside the Fazlullah loyalists. “The security forces recovered six bodies from Najia Top, they included two foreigners,” he said, referring to the highest peak in Kabal district.
Security forces took the bodies of 50 dead militants into custody during the operation. Iqbal told BBC that some militantsÂ’ dead bodies had, however, been handed over to their families.