Seize weapons, computers and liquor bottles from Imam Dheri madrassa complex
Security forces captured Imam Dheri, headquarters of pro-Taliban militant leader Maulana Fazlullah, and the Khwazkhela area in Swat, officials said on Thursday. The army also blew up the houses of Fazlullah and his spokesman Maulana Sirajuddin, besides seizing several weapons, computers and some bottles of liquor from the site, army officials said. The liquor was believed to be seized at militantsÂ’ checkposts from people.
| Right. It wasn't in the mullah's liquor cabinet. Nope. |
Earlier, | Troops backed by tanks and gunship helicopters advanced towards Imam Dheri and seized control of a madrassa run by Fazlullah, and an adjacent mosque without any resistance. |
troops backed by tanks and gunship helicopters advanced towards Imam Dheri and seized control of a madrassa run by Fazlullah, and an adjacent mosque without any resistance. De-mining experts have started combing the area for landmines and booby traps. In Khwazkhela, the troops have taken control of a police station from the militants and handed it over to the local police. The local administration in Swat announced a four-hour relaxation in curfew from 4pm to 8pm on Thursday.
The army took local reporters to Imam Dheri in the afternoon. Major General Nasir Janjua, commander of the Swat operation, told the reporters that the troops had operated very carefully in Imam Dheri to avoid any structural damage to the mosque-madrassa complex.
An unknown number of militants fled the towns before they were overrun. About 400 troops and police moved in, and found the complex abandoned, AP reported. The troops also dismantled a prison set up by militants inside a girlsÂ’ primary school in Matta and freed dozens of people, an intelligence official told AFP. There are reports that FazlullahÂ’s deputy, Maulana Shah Dauran, had been killed in a gunbattle late on Wednesday, provincial government spokesman Amjad Iqbal said. |