Gunships strike militants positions
Bureau Report

Peshawar—Gunship helicopters and artillery guns engaged various positions of the militants in Swat, Sunday. In he area North of Kuza Banda, militant’s positions were engaged with Artillery and Mortar fire at midnight resulting into number of casualties; however, exact number of casualties are unknown. In Jatkot area near Kuza Banda and in the area of Bariam Bridge near Matta, miscreant’s positions were engaged with gunship helicopters as a result a number of miscreants are reported killed.
In another incident, 5 suspected miscreants were apprehended from Landakai check post and handed over to security forces for further interrogation. Meanwhile life remained peaceful in Mingora. Bazars remained open and people were busy in their normal life. A section of the press reported chaos and confusion spreading in swat, which is absolutely false and devoid of fact. People of Swat are in favour of the security force’s operation and only dissident miscreants are involved in anti-state activities and disturbing peace of the area.
The helicopters targeted positions in the Kanju area of Swat Valley, chief military spokesman Major General Waheed Arshad told, as well as in other areas overnight. “A military operation is already underway. Ground forces will also be used to intensify the operation shortly,” he said, adding that militant casualties were heavy.
He said about 120 rebels had been killed in the past few days, with five soldiers also dying in the clashes. Residents said a woman and her daughter were killed when a mortar shell hit their house in Kabal town late Saturday. Swat, a former tourist spot, has been partly overrun by followers loyal to hardline cleric Maulana Fazlullah, who is demanding the imposition of harsh Islamic Sharia law.
The insurgent advances over the past few months have embarrassed President Pervez Musharraf, who cited growing militancy as one of the key reasons for declaring emergency rule on November 3. He has since ordered the regular army — rather than the locally recruited paramilitary forces — to take the lead in tackling the unrest.
Major General Ahmed Shuja Pasha, the army’s director general of military operations, Saturday said a major operation to clear militants from the valley could be launched “any time.” He said the valley would be reopened to tourism by the end of December. Meanwhile a jirga or council of tribal elders began talks on arranging a truce and resolving the Swat crisis peacefully.
The meeting, convened by a provincial minister, was being attended by local elders, tribal leaders and cleric, residents and security officials said. Unrest erupted in Swat in July when Fazlullah launched a campaign for the imposition of harsh Sharia law. He is nicknamed “Mullah Radio” because he runs a pirate FM radio station that calls for a holy war on government forces.Meanwhile life remained peaceful in Mingora. Bazars remained open and people were busy in their normal life.