Swat-based Taliban would retaliate if security forces continued operation in the region, a satellite channel reported on Thursday. According to Aaj News, the decision was made at the end of a two-day meeting of a Taliban Shura (council) held under Mulla Fazlullah at an undisclosed location in the Swat valley. The participants decided that Taliban should react in case the security forces did not halt attacking their pockets in the tribal and settled areas of the NWFP. The Swat peace deal was also discussed in the meeting, the channel reported. It was decided in the meeting that any decision to revoke or maintain the Swat peace deal would be taken after the assent of Taliban leader Baitullah Mehsud. The decision taken by the Taliban leader would be binding, the participants decided.
Meanwhile, Swat-based Taliban spokesman Muslim Khan said that army troops were being amassed in the Malakand district. The NWFP government released two key Taliban militants close to Fazlullah from Taimergara Prison, official sources and locals said. One of them is Mulla Esa Khan, a founder of Sharifabad FM Radio, the locals added.