SWAT—The security forces have found 48 bodies of militants from different areas of Swat, where their search and clearance operation after the operation Rah-e-Rast is underway.
The security forces operation has been carried out operation against militants in Tehsil Charbagh and Malam Jabba, Mangalore, Sar Tale Gram, Banjut from last three days. The bodies were also found from the same areas.
On the other hand, Maj. Gen. Ashfaq Nadeem, Operation Commander Swat during briefing to media men at circuit house in Saidu Sharif made it clear operation against militants would be continued till their complete elimination from the area. Over 95 percent area of Swat is under control of forces and we are trying to take control of 5 percent area, he said. Answering to a question, he said, majority of terrorists have either been killed or have been arrested and surrendered before the forces. The forces are hunting rest of terrorists, he said.
When asked about establishment of Cantonment in Swat, he said, decision into this effect has been taken while site in this respect are being determined. The construction of Ayub bridge would be started within 2 weeks and unnecessary check posts are being removed, he said. The Pakistan army has rendered enormous sacrifices for peace in the valley and ready to render more, he said. He went on to say Symposium would be organized for promotion of tourism in scenic valley of Swat.
The bullet-riddled bodies of 15 suspected Taliban were found Thursday in Pakistan’s northwest Swat, officials said, while 24 insurgents were killed in military operations in the region.
Pakistani officials have previously reported 251 unexplained corpses dumped next to roads, beheaded or strung up in the Swat valley since July, raising concerns among human rights groups of extra-judicial killings. “I can confirm that 15 bodies were found today and our information is that they are militants,” army spokesman Major Mushtaq Khan.
“They might have been the victims of infighting among militant groups or killed by local people.” Residents found the bodies in the rural Swat town of Mangalore, and doctor Naeemullah Khan said that 15 bodies were brought to the local health centre with all the victims apparently shot dead during the past 12 hours.
Pakistani security forces are already facing questions about the mysterious appearance of bodies of suspected militants that have been turning up in the former tourist playground of Swat, some showing signs of torture. Swat slipped out of government control in July 2007 after radical cleric Maulana Fazlullah mounted a violent campaign in which his followers beheaded opponents, burnt schools and fought to enforce Islamic sharia law. The army launched an offensive in April and says at least 2,150 militants and 177 soldiers have been killed in Swat, Buner and Lower Dir districts. The military now claims to have almost cleared the scenic valley of Islamist fighters and says the dead rebels were killed by local residents seeking revenge, but rights groups have accused the army of extra-judicial killings.
—Agencies
|
