Pro-Taliban militants and security forces agreed a temporary ceasefire in Swat district on Monday after four days of clashes in which up to 60 militants have been killed. There is a temporary (truce) arrangement, NWFP Inspector General Police Sharif Virk told Daily Times on Monday. Both sides were holding fire and no clashes were reported in the district. District Coordination Officer Arshad Majid told AFP that the ceasefire came into effect at 8:00am.
FM radio announcement: A deputy to cleric Maulana Fazlullah announced the ceasefire on his unlicensed FM radio station. The ceasefire was reached to facilitate wounded persons treatment, Maulana Shah Dauran said. He did not say how long the ceasefire would last. Later on we will hold negotiations with the government on establishing Sharia in the region, he said.
Sources said militant leaders approached Federal Minister Amir Muqqam to suggest a temporary ceasefire. I have told these people that unless they lay down their arms the government cannot discuss peace with them, the minister told Daily Times. Officials and sources close to militants said the truce was reached to allow both sides to gather their dead. Despite the truce, helicopters flew over areas controlled by the militants for surveillance, security sources told Daily Times. We flew the copters to monitor their movement, they said.
Casualties: NWFP Home Secretary Badshah Gul Wazir told AFP there were reports around 60 miscreants were killed in three days of fighting. The toll could be higher.
He told AP that a total of 20 security forces and civilians were killed since Friday. Another eight troops and four police were missing, he said. Movement in the area is still restricted and we are still gathering details to confirm the exact number of casualties among miscreants, he said.
Dauran, Fazlullahs deputy, said five people, including three militants, a woman and a child, were killed during the clashes. They targeted innocent people, he said.
Army spokesman Major-General Waheed Arshad also said up to 60 militants had been killed. He had no reports of casualties among security forces, although residents saw at least nine dead paramilitaries. Sirajuddin, a spokesman for Fazlullah, said they had killed 30 troops near Charbagh and would hand over the bodies only after the army releases an unspecified number of prisoners.
Civilians flee: Residents of Imam Dheri, where Fazlullahs headquarters are located, Barbanda, Manglor and adjoining villages used the lull in fighting to move to safe places, witnesses said. Residents of Kot Manglor told AP that paramilitary troops had asked them to leave the village.
Ali Rahman, a local police official, told AP that about 600 people fled the conflict zone on Monday, many crammed into buses and others on foot. Television footage showed villagers wading across a river and struggling across fields clutching bags of possessions. Wazir told APP he had issued directives to the Swat district administration to make accommodation arrangements in Mingora for people displaced due to the fighting. Around 200 residents of Manglor also held a rally in support of peace, calling on both the Taliban and the government to settle their differences through negotiations. |
PESHAWAR: The Nowshera district returning officer (DRO) served notice on NWFP Senior Minister Sirajul Haq on Saturday, summoning him for August 15 to explain alleged interference in the local government elections. The summons was issued after Chief Election Commissioner Abdul Hameed Dogar directed the Nowshera DRO to investigate complaints by Taraqi Pasand Group candidate Niaz Muhammad in Union Council Dheri Katthikhel that the senior minister was "interfering" to help Jamaat-e-Islami-backed candidates win.