Security forces on Saturday killed 40 militants in one of the fiercest battles in Swat so far, pounding their positions with artillery and helicopter gunships after Taliban killed three policemen and a civilian in a suicide attack on a police station, officials said. "Forty militants were killed in the Kabal tehsil trying to ambush advancing troops," a regional military spokesman said, adding that they included a top militant commander. According to the spokesman, two soldiers also died in the clashes.An indefinite curfew was imposed across the Swat district and the local administration said it was planning a search operation to purge the area of militants.
Police stations: The clashes came after a suicide bomber rammed his explosives-laden vehicle into a police station in the Charbagh area, DSP Ali Rehmat said. Security contingents and rescuers arrived at the blast scene soon after the incident and carried out relief work.
Rehmat denied initial reports that said 15 policemen were killed in the attack. "Some 20 shops near the police station were also destroyed," said the police official. Taliban spokesman Muslim Khan claimed responsibility for the attack. He told reporters by telephone from an undisclosed location that the attack was a reaction to the security forces' operation against Taliban in the Kabal and Matta tehsils.
Militants also blew up with dynamite an abandoned police station in the Barikot area, leaving two dead, including a girl, local residents said.
Three bridges: Also on Saturday, pro-Taliban militants blew up three bridges and a checkpost in the Matta and Deoli areas, the state-run APP news agency said. No casualties were reported.