North West Frontier Province Timeline- 2009

Month/Date

Incidents

January 1

Four persons were killed and two others kidnapped in separate incidents in Swat District of NWFP. A person identified as Sardar Ali was dragged out of his house and his head was chopped off at the Green Square. In another incident at the same location, unknown assailants shot dead a man, whose identity could not be ascertained. The body of one Zahir Shah was found at a roadside while the body of an unidentified man was recovered from Nishat Square. Two farmers were abducted at gunpoint from fields and were shifted to an unidentified location.

Three Policemen were killed and six injured in two bomb blasts in the Peshawar and Bannu districts. Unidentified men blew up a Police check-post near Jabba Mosque in the Mathra Police station precincts of Peshawar, killing constable Asif Khan. Senior Police official Jamilur Rehman said the attack could be a reaction to the ongoing military operation in Khyber Agency. Meanwhile, two Policemen - Abbas Ali Khan and Muhammad Ali Khan - were killed and six injured when a bomb being defused by officials of the Bannu Bomb Disposal Squad exploded.

January 2

Seven persons, including an Awami National Party leader and two Frontier Constabulary (FC) personnel, were killed in different parts of the Swat District.

Police sources said militants kidnapped two FC officials, identified as Hameed and Rehmat Gul, from the Balogram Police post. Later, their mutilated bodies were found on roadside in Odigram.

Unidentified gunmen shot dead Deedar Gul, president of the Kalam chapter of the ruling Awami National Party.

Suspected militants shot dead a female dancer at Green Chowk in Mingora city. Ziarat Gul, the husband of the slain dancer, had reportedly expelled her from his house.

In the Shakardarra area of Matta sub-division, two persons, Ameer Hameedullah and Muhammad Kareem, were shot dead by unidentified assailants.

Militants ringed the Prince Hotel in Mingora and abducted two persons from there. The militants claimed that their colleagues were attacked from the same hotel the other day in which one had sustained bullet injuries.

The militants kidnapped Muhammad Sher from Sarbanda area in Matta and an FC trooper Daulatmand from Mingora Bazaar.

Militants stormed the houses of Inspector Amjad Khan and Fazle Rabbi, a professor at Jehanzeb College in Saidu Sharif, in the Charbagh area. The militants later set ablaze their household items.

Taliban announced the enforcement of Sharia (Islamic law) in the Shakai, Sheikhan and Mulakhel areas of Hangu District. The decision was made in a jirga (assembly of tribal elders) and announced in mosques during the Friday sermons, and comes days after a similar decree in the bordering Orakzai Agency. Women have been stopped from visiting bazaars, other than for medical treatment, and that too only if they are accompanied by an elderly male relative. TV, CDs and video centres have been banned. Sources in the area said the Taliban had been using loudspeakers installed in mosques to ask people to bring their issues to the ‘Taliban Islamic courts’ to resolve them in accordance with Islamic law. The Taliban also reportedly blackened the faces of three men and paraded them on donkeys in the area for alleged immorality, the sources said, but it was not clear when the incident took place.

January 4

Five persons, including two Security Force (SF) personnel, were killed in separate incidents of violence in the Swat District. Frontier Corps official Sabir Khan from Chhuta Kalam and a Police official from Mamdheri, Azizur Rahman, who were abducted by the militants on January 3, were killed the next day. Aziz’s bullet-riddled body was thrown at the Green Chowk in Mingora city. Sabir Khan’s head was chopped off and hanged on a pole in same area. In another incident, unidentified assailants shot dead three persons at the Matta College Square and later escaped from the incident site.

Eight bodies were recovered from different parts of the Swat District. Three bodies were found at Green Chowk while two bodies were recovered from the Ode Gram area of the District. Three more bodies were found from a house in the Shakardara area of Matta sub-division. The killings were part of a series of targeted killings in the valley. Separately, Taliban militants killed the Traders Association President Jameel Khan in Barikot.

Ten persons, including four Policemen, were killed and 27 others injured in two bomb blasts near the Polytechnic College in Dera Ismail Khan. Sources said an explosive device, planted by militants near the main gate of the Polytechnic College, went off at 7:07 pm, injuring four persons. Eyewitnesses said soon after the blast, Police personnel and people rushed to the spot. As a large number of Policemen and people gathered at the site, a 16-year-old suicide bomber forced his entry into the crowd and blew himself up, killing 10 persons, including four Policemen, and injuring 21 others.

A suicide bomber was killed while two people sustained injuries near a check-post in Officers’ Colony in Bannu. The suicide bomber blew himself up in an attempt to target a check-post but could not succeed as the bomb exploded before he could reach his target.

A senior Taliban leader was arrested from Peshawar, capital of the NWFP. A senior Policeman confirmed Ustad Yasir was arrested, but declined to give details. Formerly a leader of Abdurrab Rasool Sayyaf’s Ittehad-e-Islami group in Afghanistan, Yasir joined the Taliban in 2001 after Sayyaf announced support for Afghan President Hamid Karzai. He was arrested from the NWFP in 2005 and released from Kabul’s Pul-e-Charkhi prison in exchange for kidnapped Italian journalist Daniele Mastrogiacomo.

January 5

Four persons, including two militants, were killed in continued incidents of violence in the Mingora city of Swat District. Two persons, identified as Javed and Nisar, were killed in the Mingora city and their bodies thrown at the Green and Suhrab squares. The duo was identified as local militants. Meanwhile, unidentified assailants shot dead a former councillor, Muhammad Sahib, in the Aligram area of Charbagh. In another incident, some unidentified gunmen barged into a house at Watkay in Mingora and shot dead a woman.

Unidentified persons in the Shakardara area of Matta sub-division blew up the house of a local journalist, Hameedullah.

January 6

Six bullet-ridden bodies of Security Force (SF) personnel, who had been abducted by Taliban militants a few days ago, were found in the Mingora city of Swat District. The militants brought the six persons to the College Square in Mingora in the night of January 5 and shot them dead.

A girls’ high school was set ablaze by suspected militants in the Fatehpur area of Khwazakhela sub-division. While no casualty was reported, the furniture and record of the school were destroyed. Militants in Swat have so far reportedly set ablaze or blown up 104 girls’ and 62 boys’ schools.

Clashes between the SFs and militants took place in the Matta and Manglawar areas of the valley. Troops shelled the suspected positions of militants but no loss of life was reported.

Sub-Inspector Rehamtullah of the Bomb Disposal Squad in Bannu District Police was killed while defusing a bomb in Bannu.

January 7

The Taliban in Hangu District killed three Policemen and abducted three others when they stormed a Police check-post. Officials said the Taliban attacked the Police post in Dalan area of Tal tehsil (revenue division) using heavy weapons. Three Police personnel - Taimoor, Fazal Rahim and Daulat Shah - were killed, while Mohibullah, Tariq and Akhlaq were abducted by the militants, who also set ablaze the check-post.

Militants attacked a check-post of the SFs in the Koza Bandai area of Kabal sub-division in Swat District, which triggered a gunfight between the two sides. Five SF personnel were wounded and two vehicles of the troops destroyed in the clash while a vehicle was taken away by the militants. The SFs shelled suspected positions of the militants in the area and consequently, a mortar shell hit a house owned by one Aurangzeb, killing his daughter and injuring three others.

Two persons were shot dead in separate incidents in Kabal and Matta. Unidentified assailants shot dead a person, identified as Shuja Khan, near a hospital and threw his body by a water tank. In Aghal Barthana, unknown gunmen killed one civilian, identified as Bahr-e-Karam.

Militants abducted the son of District Revenue Officer Sultanat Khan from the Kaymalpur area of Charbagh.

SFs arrested two suspected militants from Mingora bazaar in Swat during patrol.

January 9

Four people are reported to have died and dozens of others injured after clashes erupted in the Hangu town and its surrounding areas. A mourning procession from Ustarzai, Ibarhimzai, Sherkot and Chakarkot villages was heading for the Hangu city despite a curfew. Sources said militants allegedly attacked the procession with rockets from the hilltops when it reached near Bahadur Banda, prompting an exchange of fire with the mourners. Consequently, four people were killed in the clashes. Police sources said both sides used heavy weapons against each other. The areas where the clashes erupted included Charbagh, Gangyan, Serai Banda, Lakhtay Banda, Ibrahimzai, Bahadur Banda and city bazaar areas, the sources said.

Police in the provincial capital Peshawar arrested three alleged would-be suicide bombers and six other suspects from various parts of the city after a tip-off about the plot to disrupt the processions on the Muharram day. Police received information that three would-be suicide bombers, Qari, Asad and Amjad, had been tasked to carry out bombings during the Ashura processions. Police subsequently arrested the three would-be suicide bombers as well as six other suspects from different urban parts of the provincial capital.

Ziaullah, relative of a retired Superintendent of Police, who was abducted some days ago, was killed. His body was found in the Jehanabad area of Manglawar. Another body, which could not be identified, was also found in the same area.

Militants kidnapped two relatives of official Jamal Nasir and allegedly demanded ransom for their release.

Militants kidnapped two alleged drug-peddlers, identified as Fazl and Barkat, from the Gunban Meera area of Mingora.

In Nawey Kalay, the militants took away a rickshaw driver, along with his rickshaw.

The militants burnt another Government Girls’ High School in the Sheen area of Khwazakhela in Swat.

A bomb blast at the Nehar Chowk area of Mardan destroyed a CD centre and some other shops. However, no casualty was reported in the incident.

January 10

At least 17 people were killed and 30 others injured in the ongoing sectarian clashes in Hangu. Officials said that fighting between the rival Shia and Sunni groups had been continuing since late January 9 while army helicopter gun ships were targeting the warring parties’ positions to control the situation. The clashes erupted when people from Kohat, who were protesting against the imposition of curfew in Hangu on the eve of Ashura, were attacked by the rival sect. The two groups started targeting each other with heavy and light weapons. According to officials, clashes occurred in the Khanbari, Singhar, Paskalay, Gungano Kalay, Malik Abad and Ibrahim Zay areas of Hangu city.

A bomb blast partially damaged two cellular phone shops in Naurang bazaar in Lakki Marwat.

January 11

A cease-fire between rival factions was reached in Hangu, after 30 persons were killed and 50 injured in sectarian clashes that broke out on January 9, according to Daily Times. However, The News put the death toll in the three days of sectarian clashes at 40. 20 houses – including that of the District Zakat committee chairman – were set ablaze in fresh clashes despite an earlier truce in the afternoon of January 11, as helicopter gunships targeted ‘miscreant’ hideouts. A private TV channel said the house of local Awami National Party leader Yahya Qureshi was also torched. Sources said three local commanders, Maulvi Nadeem, Momin and Ihsanullah, were among the six militants killed in sectarian clashes in Saidan Banda and Pass Kellay, while six civilians were also injured. Clashes between the armed groups continued in various areas, including Sangarabad, Bahadur Ghari, Saidan Banda, Mardokhel Banda, Kach Banda, Ibrahimzai, Nerobaag, Sheikhan Kellay and Lakhtay Banda throughout the day. Heavy weapons, including rockets, mortar shells and missiles were used in the clashes.

Some troops were pulled out of parts of the Swat District but military officials insisted it was not a withdrawal but readjustment and rotation of forces. Reports from different troubled areas of the valley suggested that SFs withdrew from some key locations. Sources said the SFs vacated Golibagh, Charbagh, Sherpalam and Gashkor. They also said troops billeted in Paithom Hotel in Golibagh left the building.

Four persons were killed in fresh incidents of violence in the Swat valley. On New Road in Mingora town, unidentified gunmen shot dead a person Hakim Siraj while the body of another person, whose name could not be ascertained, was found in Matta Bazaar. In Durushkhela village of Matta sub-division, the body of Ahmad Jan and his son were found at the roadside.

Militants attacked the house of NWFP Minister for Science and Technology Ayub Ashari. The attack led to a brief clash between the militants and family members of the minister. However, no loss of life on either side was reported.

Militants flogged three alleged drug addicts 30 times each in Kanju Dherai area.

January 12

One soldier and four other persons were killed and 13 others, including nine SF personnel, were injured as sectarian clashes between rival groups continued in the Hangu District despite announcement of a cease-fire. Sources said gunship helicopters continued shelling different areas, including Pas Kellay and Ibrahimzai check-post.

A soldier was killed and nine persons, including five soldiers and four civilians, sustained injuries when shells reportedly hit SFs’ bunkers. Further, the bodies of Abdul Ali, Arif, Ali Askar and an unidentified man were recovered from Ganjiyano Kellay.

Police recovered 35 rocket shells, 30 misfired mortar shells and 13 rockets during a search operation launched after taking control of the violence affected areas.

January 13

A mortar shell - allegedly fired by the SFs - hit a house in the Gulagai area of Matta sub-division, killing three children and injuring a woman.

A child was killed and two others sustained injuries when mortar shell allegedly fired by the SFs landed on a house in Janabad village.

A man, identified as Khona Gul, was killed in another attack allegedly by the SFs.

A beheaded body was recovered near the Raheemabad Police station in Mingora. It was subsequently identified as that of Ahmad, a rickshaw driver from Saidu Sharif, who was abducted a few days ago.

Unidentified gunmen opened fire on an oil tanker in Matta area, killing driver Naseem Khan on the spot. The cleaner of the tanker, Fazal Wahid, sustained injuries in the attack.

A security official was killed while three others sustained injuries when suspected militants attacked the SFs convoy in Durushkhela area of Matta, according to the Swat Media Centre. The troops instantly retaliated and killed an unspecified number of the attackers. A petrol station was also reportedly set ablaze in Matta.

A trooper was killed when militants attacked the Kotal check-post in Kohat District. The militants fired dozens of rockets at the Frontier Constabulary check-post and the army retaliated with artillery from Kohat side. The SFs subsequently targeted the hideouts of militants in Bosti Khel area.

Several militants attacked the house of Mohammad Ayub, the NWFP Minister belonging to the ruling Awami National Party, in Asharay village in Matta. However, SFs deployed there repulsed the attack. There were no reports of casualties in the incident.

A remote-controlled bomb exploded near the convoy of SFs in Sambat near Matta town. However, no casualty was reported.

There were also reports of clashes between SFs and militants in the Charbagh area of the Swat valley throughout January 13. However, there were no reports of causalities suffered by either side in the fighting.

In the provincial capital Peshawar, after paramilitary troops were withdrawn from NATO terminals on the Ring Road for Muharram, militants once again launched attacks on parking bays of two terminals in the wee hours of January 13, firing six rockets. "Militants attacked the Faisal Terminal and the Khyber Ittifaq Terminal at midnight with rockets from the nearby fields. Four containers were gutted in the Khyber Terminal and two in the Faisal Terminal," a Police official told The News. Two of the containers were empty while the rest were filled with different items being trans-shipped for the allied forces in Afghanistan. Police rushed to the spot, the unnamed official said, and engaged the attackers. Firing from both sides continued for quite some time after which the attackers fled.

January 14

Several CD shops and offices were completely destroyed when three time devices planted by suspected militants at three separate markets exploded in the wee hours. Six other shops and the house of a Pakistan People’s Party leader were partially damaged while three more bombs recovered from the markets were defused. However, no casualty was reported, as nobody was present in the market.

January 15

SFs claimed to have killed and injured ‘a large number of hardcore militants’ including their ‘operations commander’ in Manglawar in the Swat District when an attack was repulsed. However, a spokesman for the Swat Media Centre could not tell the exact number of militants killed in the clash. Giving details, he said the militants attempted to attack a SFs’ check-post at Manglawar early on January 15 morning but it was effectively repulsed.

Approximately 20 shops were damaged when an explosive device went off in a market in Shabqadar. However, no loss of life was reported.

About 400 private schools in Swat have announced to abandon girls’ education in their institutes in the wake of the deadline (January 15) given by the militants to discontinue the practice, depriving more than 40,000 students of their basic right to get education, The News reported. In addition, 84,248 girl students of state-run schools are unlikely to attend schools due to the fear of militants despite attempts by the local administration to reopen the schools on March 1. Maulana Fazlullah-led militants had asked all Government and private schools on December 24, 2008, to stop imparting female education by January 15, 2009.

January 16

18 people, including 12 militants and three SF personnel, were killed in different parts of the Swat District. A press release of the Military’s-run Swat Media Cell (SMC) claimed that 12 militants were killed and many others injured in a clash in the Chamtalai area of Khwazakhela sub-division. The TTP Swat chapter leader Shah Dauran also claimed killing several SF personnel in the clash. "Several troops were killed and five vehicles were destroyed in the attack," he claimed on his illegal FM radio. The SFs subsequently clamped a curfew in Khwazakhela and started shelling suspected hideouts of the militants.

Two people were killed when unidentified gunmen started indiscriminate firing in the Qambar area of Mingora sub-division. The deceased were identified as Arsalan Khan, a retired Assistant Sub-Inspector of Police, and Shareef Khan, reportedly a relative of Shah Dauran, the TTP commander in Swat.

Unidentified gunmen dragged Ameer Zeb, a Police constable, out of his house in Charbagh and shot him dead.

In the Alamganj area of Khwazakhela, a man identified as Dost Muhammad was killed when a mortar shell allegedly fired by the SFs hit his house.

Militants destroyed a house owned by the Awami National Party chief Asfandyar Wali Khan in Madyan Chaktari area. The militants reportedly planted explosives in the house, completely destroying it. However, no loss of life was reported as the house had been abandoned by the family of Asfandyar Wali.

January 17

Militants shot dead a person accused of spying on them in the Shalpin area of Khwazakhela sub-division.

SFs continued shelling the suspected positions of the militants, which resulted in the death of a woman.

In the first incident of its kind in provincial capital Peshawar, religious scholar Pir Hafiz Rafeeullah, who was kidnapped on January 16, was reportedly slaughtered and his decapitated body was found in the Matani area of the capital on the morning of January 17.

Suspected militants blew up an abandoned police post in the Balogram area of Swat.

The militants destroyed another Government high school in Qambar, the native town of TTP Swat deputy chief Shah Dauran.

January 18

In the Gulkada area of Swat District, unidentified gunmen entered a house and opened fire on the inmates, killing two brothers, Hazrat Ali and Zafar Ali, on the spot. Two other persons also sustained injuries in the attack.

Suspected militants shot dead a soldier, Arshad, at the bus terminal in Mingora town.

A civilian, Omar Rehman, is reported to have died during aerial firing by the SFs in Swat.

A faith-healing centre on the Circular Road in Peshawar was damaged when an explosives device went off late on January 18. However, no loss of life was reported.

January 19

Two SF personnel were injured in a remote-controlled bomb attack on their vehicle in the Shand area of Madian in Swat District.

The Taliban blew up five boys’ and a girls’ school in Swat. Militants reportedly planted bombs around the buildings of five schools, which detonated late on January 18, while the sixth was detonated in the afternoon of January 19. However, no reports of casualties were received.

January 20

Four Policemen and four civilians were injured when a Police patrol van was hit by a roadside bomb on Ring Road in the Hazarkhwani area of Peshawar. The blast took place at about 8:03am (PST) near a security check-post when Pandu Police Station officials were patrolling the Ring Road. "Almost 1kg explosives, planted in a gas pipeline, exploded when the police patrol vehicle was passing through the spot," Superintendent of Police (City Circle), said Mohammad Ashraf.

President Asif Ali Zardari and Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani tasked ally Maulana Fazlur Rehman to aid talks between the Government and the Taliban in Swat during a meeting. "Force is being used as a last option," a private TV channel quoted President Zardari as saying. The leaders discussed national and regional security and "other important matters" in the meeting at the President’s House that also included Interior Adviser Rehman Malik. Fazlur Rehman, the chief of his own faction of the Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam, had denied he was assigned such a task but said he would play his part in the peace efforts if he was given the responsibility.

The NWFP Chief Minister Ameer Haider Khan Hoti offered dialogue to the Taliban to restore peace in the troubled areas. He said the dialogue offer was still intact, asking the Taliban to come to negotiate without weapons as problems could not be solved by force.

After proscribing female education in the Swat District, the militants reportedly issued another decree, asking the local people to wear caps and stop shaving beards after January 25. The militants set January 25 as deadline for keeping beards in the Matta sub-division and also asked people to wear caps in order to implement Sharia (Islamic law) in the area. They had already stopped barbers from shaving and trimming beards in the valley while following their fresh decree all barbers reportedly displayed "shave is banned" posters at their shops. Taliban sources said after the expiry of the deadline, no one in Matta would be allowed to trim beard as they were trying for the establishment of a complete Islamic society.

The militants blew up the house of an activist of the ruling ANP, Muhammad Ilyas, in the Manja area of Kabal sub-division. Local sources said Ilyas was brought outside and his house was blown up in front of him.

The cabinet of ANP Mingora city tendered en-bloc resignation over what they called flawed and anti-people policies and the ongoing military operation in the valley. They also reportedly resigned from the party.

January 21

Taliban militants destroyed two more Government-run schools and a health centre as violence continued in the Swat District. Explosive devices planted at the high school for boys and a basic health unit in Sher Falam in the Matta sub-division, and the girls primary school in Mangalstan in Charbagh sub-division, went off early in the morning, razing the buildings to the ground. With the destruction of these two schools, the number of schools torched and blown up in the Swat valley increased to 189. The Swat District Coordination Officer Shaukat Khan Yousafzai confirmed destruction of the schools, saying that most of the 189 schools destroyed by the Taliban were for girls. He said that over 100,000 students had been affected.

January 22

21 persons, including 11 militants, were killed and an unspecified number of them injured in the ongoing military operation and fresh incidents of violence in the Swat District. According to the Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR)-run Swat Media Centre (SMC), 11 militants were killed and nine injured in Qamber and Koza Drushkhela. The SMC spokesman claimed that a militants’ hideout was destroyed in shelling at Qamber and four militants, identified as Abu Hamza, Ismail, Abdul Rauf and Qari Ghaffar, were killed. Sources added that SFs also carried out a ground assault in the Koza Drushkhela area of Matta sub-division, the stronghold of Maulana Fazlullah-led militants, and killed seven militants besides injuring three others.

A dumper truck was attacked in the Chamtalai area of Khwazakhela sub-division by the militants, killing the driver and a passer-by on the spot. In Terat area of the upper Swat town, Madyan, beheaded bodies of two persons, including a prayer leader identified as Khanzada, were found. Eight persons were also kidnapped from the area. Assailants reportedly opened fire at Abdullah in Kanju Bazaar, Kabal, killing him on the spot while another man Shah Wali, who sustained injuries, was rushed to hospital.

A FC soldier was killed and five others sustained injuries when militants attacked a check-post in Darra Adamkhel. Sources said the militants attacked the SFs check-post in Tor Chappar with light and heavy weapons, killing an FC trooper, identified as Zahid, and injuring five others. Sources said SFs targeted the hideouts of militants soon after the attack with gunship helicopters and the mortars but there were no reports of casualties.

The ISPR Director General, Major General Athar Abbas, said that the peace deal signed with the Taliban in Swat has provided them an opportunity to re-emerge in the area, and the Sharia (Islamic law) imposed by them is terrorism. Talking to a private TV channel, Abbas said the Taliban had regrouped in Swat as the SFs had changed their strategy after the peace deal. He said the Government’s writ was intact in the areas where SFs were present.

January 23

In an IED attack in the Takhtaband area of Mingora town in Swat District, three civilians, including a woman, were killed and a soldier sustained injuries. The militants reportedly intended to target a convoy of the Security Forces but failed in their bid. The Taliban claimed responsibility and warned of more attacks. "As long as bullets are fired at us, such attacks will continue to take place," a spokesman for the Swat chapter of the banned TTP threatened.

Five members of a family, including three children, were killed when a mortar shell hit a house in the Manpetai village of Khwazakhela sub-division. A couple and their three children died and their house was destroyed in the incident.

Two SF personnel were killed in a suicide attack near Mingora town. A car laden with explosives blew up near the Fizagat check-post, killing two SF personnel and injuring 22 others. Troops had signaled the suspicious vehicle to stop and also fired on it, but it accelerated and hit the post.

In the Kalakot area of Kabal sub-division, a mortar shell killed Babar Shah and injured three others. In a similar incident, a man on way to his home was killed in a mortar attack in the Chaqo area of Matta sub-division.

Suspected militants shot dead a bank manager, Shah Rahman, in the Banora area of Fatehpur. In addition, a civilian wounded during shelling in the Qamber area.

The NWFP Minister for Science and Technology addressed a press conference in Gul Kada in Swat, reiterating the Government’s resolve to give amnesty to those laying down their arms. Ayub Asharay said that the Government was ready to announce a general amnesty if the militants abandoned their armed movement and stopped challenging the writ of the Government.

January 24

Eight Taliban militants, including commander Noor Bakhtiar, were killed by the SFs during clashes in the Nangolai area of Kabal tehsil (revenue division) in Swat. The SFs also recovered a large cache of arms from the Taliban’s hideout after the operation.

Troops also took control of schools in Swat following Taliban militant’s threats against their reopening. The decision was made to protect educational institutions in the district, where, according to official figures, 174 schools have been destroyed by Taliban militants during the past one and a half year. The forces established their check posts near the schools to thwart further attacks by the Taliban militants, who are against female education in the district. In December 2008, the Taliban had warned the Government to close all girls’ schools in Swat, threatening to kill any female student that dared receive education.

January 26

Nine people, including two children and two women, were killed and 17 others sustained injuries in different incidents of violence in various parts of the Swat District. Sources said a woman and her two children were killed when a mortar shell, allegedly fired by the SFs, landed in a house in Serai area near Manglawar. Three persons were wounded in the incident. Further, two persons, including a woman, were killed and 14 injured in Sangota when mortar shells hit their houses. There were reports that several houses were also damaged in the shelling.

Four bodies were recovered from the Ningolai area of Kabal sub-division. One of those killed was later identified as Abdul Aziz. SFs reportedly arrested nine people for violating curfew. The curfew remained in force from Shakardarra to Koza Bandai for the second consecutive day.

Unidentified miscreants fired four rockets at the Kotal Pass security check-post. However, no loss of life was reported. Sources said the rockets were fired from Bostikhel area of Darra Adamkhel.

Six people were killed and 22 others sustained injuries when a bomb rigged to a bicycle exploded in a populated area in Dera Ismail Khan. Three of the victims were in a car while the other three were walking past the bicycle parked in front of the main gate of the town hall.

The remote-controlled bomb apparently targeted a Sunni leader. Locals told that the explosion occurred when NWFP assembly member, and leader of the banned SSP, Khalifa Abdul Qayyum, was passing through the area. They said Qayyum escaped unhurt, but his car was damaged in the blast. Talking to reporters later, Qayum said he was the apparent target of the blast, as he had been involved in efforts for bringing peace to the district. He said it was a terrorist attack, adding he did not have personal enmity with anyone. Police said the bomb weighed around 10 kilograms and seemed to be foreign made.

SFs killed more than 16 militants in Darra Adamkhel in the NWFP. The SFs claimed that they had besieged a large number of militants after a fierce battle which claimed the life of an army officer and injured five soldiers in Tor Chappar. The troops had reportedly been attacking the militants' hideout in the area with artillery fire and shelling for the last four days. The Inter-Services Public Relations said in a press release from provincial capital Peshawar on January 26 that 16 militants were killed in a gun battle in Tor Chapper on January 25. The operation was planned after the military was told that the Tor Chappar Valley, "is again witnessing terrorist activity", the statement said. However, a Taliban spokesman denied the report of the death of 16 people and said that all of them were safe and alive.

The authorities have imposed an indefinite curfew in the main city of Swat, said a statement by the army's media centre - hours after the SFs launched the third phase of a military operation in the valley. Military sources said the third phase of Operation Rah-e-Haq had been launched in light of a list released by the Taliban which contains names of officials 'wanted' by the group.

After the operation began - five civilians were killed by artillery and mortar fire. Locals said a man, a woman and three children were killed when mortar shells hit four houses in Mangalawar area of Charbagh sub-division in the night of January 26 as SFs targeted Taliban positions. After the start of the intensified operation late on January 26, official sources and locals told that the Government had already imposed curfews in Nengolai, Bara, Koza Banadai, Shakar Dara and Charbagh towns for an indefinite period, and issued shoot-at-sight orders for violators. The curfew in Mingora was imposed after about 100-150 Taliban militants stormed the streets of the town displaying arms. While no violence was reported, a private TV channel said the Taliban had taken over bus stands in Mingora town.

In the Matta sub-division, a convoy of SFs was targeted in a remote-controlled bomb attack, but there were no casualties.

The Taliban blew up two more schools at Kabal in Swat, taking the number of destroyed schools to 188.

Unidentified gunmen killed a Shia civilian in Dera Ismail Khan in the second sectarian-linked attack during the last 48 hours. "Unidentified gunmen shot dead Athar Hussain Shah on the Dayal road while he was returning to town from his nearby farm and then escaped," local police official Tauqir Abbas said. Abbas added the victim was the son of a caretaker at a local Shia mosque. "It seems to be a sectarian killing," the official said. There was, however, no immediate claim of responsibility for the attack.

16 more people, including seven militants, were killed and 23 others injured in the Swat District, even as Army Chief General Ashfaq Parvez Kayani vowed to establish the writ of the Government.

On the eve of the COAS's visit to Swat, the military spokesman, Major Nasir Ali said the military operation would be "decisive and final" and the militants would be completely crushed, while their strongholds would be destroyed or captured. The spokesman claimed that SFs had killed seven militants and injured 11 others in Manglawar and Sanghota towns during a ground action backed by helicopters. "The two were strongholds of the militants but we have completely secured them now," he claimed. Earlier, General Kayani made an unannounced visit to the Swat valley and issued fresh directions about the operation.

The militants' commander and presenter on FM Radio channel, Maulana Khalil, who recently replaced Shah Dauran, claimed to have killed 35 SF personnel in Qambar. As an indefinite curfew remained in force in Manglawar near Mingora, six people were reportedly killed for curfew violation. Those shot dead by the SFs were reportedly attempting to migrate from the troubled area.

Three persons, including a child, were killed and 12 others wounded when mortar shells landed on their houses in Sanghota. Several houses were also destroyed in the daylong shelling by the SFs in the same area. Sources said SFs also used gunship helicopters to target suspected hideouts of militants in Sanghota and its adjacent areas. SFs also continued targeting suspected hideouts of militants in the Chuprial area. One of the shells fired by the troops landed in a taxi stand in the village. However, no human or material loss was reported.

The SFs abandoned the fortified security check-post in the Venai area near Matta. It was the last military post before the Taliban-controlled area. The abandonment of the Venai security post prompted both the militants and SFs to take new positions in the adjacent Sarbanda and Aghal areas.

Around 25 projects operated by USAID in the FATA and settled areas of the NWFP have been temporarily closed over security concerns. The staff members working on several projects in Tank, Dera Ismail Khan, and North and South Waziristan agencies have been called back due to worsening security in those areas.

Four militants were killed and several others, including a Policeman, sustained injuries when suspected militants attacked a police post near Baran Bridge in Bannu with rockets and heavy arms.

Three more persons were killed and four others injured in the Swat District amid several abortive attacks by the militants on SFs.

The SFs after capturing Manglawar are reportedly advancing to secure more Taliban-infested areas. They shelled suspected positions of the militants, which claimed the life of Rahman Ali, besides injuring three others, when a mortar shell hit his house in Manglawar. Several houses were also reportedly damaged during the shelling.

In the Spairdad area of Matta sub-division, two persons were killed when SFs on a hilltop opened fired on their car, they were travelling in.

Prime Minister's Adviser on Interior Affairs Rehman Malik told the Senate that a new strategy had been worked out to combat militancy in Swat. He said the groups behind the insurgency in Swat included al Qaeda, TTP led by Maulana Fazlullah, Tanzeem-i-Islami, Tora Bora group and Qari Mushtaq group. He said that a Taliban 'commander', Qari Hussain Ahmed, ran a training camp for suicide bombers in Waziristan and Maulana Naamdaar had a role in bringing suicide bombers from Waziristan to Swat. Qari Hussain was reported killed in January 2008 when his house was destroyed in an air strike. Malik said the objective of the militants was not to enforce Sharia (Islamic law), but to destroy Pakistan. He told the Senate that around 1,200 civilians had been killed and 2,000 injured in violence, while 189 military personnel had lost their lives. He said 123 Government schools and 10 private schools had been destroyed and many CD shops and barbers' salons set ablaze. He also said a so-called 'Taliban court' had 'summoned' 40 people.

The Darra Adamkhel unit of the TTP issued a one-week deadline to the NWFP Government to accept their demands and in case of non-compliance they would kill the kidnapped Polish geologist. A Taliban spokesman told that : "We cannot wait more as the government has taken acceptance of our demands (in return) for the release of Polish geologist Peter (Stanczak) very light. So, our Shura has decided to wait till Feb 4 evening for a positive reply from the government and in case of refusal we will kill him." The spokesman, who identified himself as Mohammad, said they had demanded from the Government complete withdrawal of SFs from tribal areas and release of their captured associates. He also said, "We are not interested in ransom and just want the government to accept our two longstanding demands." The Polish geologist working for the Oil and Gas Development Company Limited (OGDCL) is in the custody of the Taliban reportedly at a place near the Pakistan-Afghanistan border. He had been kidnapped from an OGDCL facility near the Jand town of Attock district in Punjab province four months ago. He had been shifted from Attock in a boat through the Indus River to Kohat and then taken by the Taliban to their hideout. The Taliban had released his video in which the victim had appealed to his Government to request Pakistan for acceptance of demands of the Taliban to save his life.

Six persons were killed as the military operation in Swat continued on the sixth day. The SFs continued targeting Taliban hideouts in several areas of the Chaharbagh sub-division, including Coat and Darul Uloom. Troops reportedly advanced into the valley and consolidated their positions in Matta and Manglawar areas of the District. The curfew in Sangota, Koozabandai, Darra Bandai, Nangoi and parts of Shakardara also continued.

The militants attacked Matta Police station, which triggered a clash between the two sides. However, there was no report on casualties.

A private TV channel said that Taliban leader Maulana Fazlullah had 'permitted' education for girls in the valley up to the fourth grade.

Two suspected terrorists were arrested from the Ring Road area in Peshawar.

Civilians appealed to the SFs for safe passage and facilities for internally displaced persons. People in all those areas where the military has been carrying operations for the last few days have been complaining against the SFs for targeting the civilian population.

Four soldiers were killed and eight injured when an Army convoy was attacked with a remote-controlled bomb in Malakand. The SFs cordoned off the area after the attack, which occurred in the Jalala area. Official sources told that a military convoy of the Sindh Regiment was on its way to provincial capital Peshawar from the militancy-hit Swat valley when a remote-controlled explosive device, planted by militants near a school building on Ghat Koto Road, went off, killing four soldiers and injuring eight others.

A person was killed and eight others abducted in several incidents of violence in the Hangu District. They said unidentified armed men opened fire on a vehicle near Tutkas graveyard in the District's Tal sub-division. The passengers were reportedly traveling from Kurram Agency to Hangu. A man, identified as Johar Ali, was killed in the firing, while the assailants abducted the other three men. Separately, unidentified men abducted two persons from Tura Waray road in the Doaba Police station precincts. An Afghan private security guard, Syed Agha, was abducted from Tal city, while unidentified men abducted a Government contractor, Fazal Akbar, and Imtiaz, an employee of NADRA in Orakzai Agency, from separate areas of the District.

10 persons were killed in fresh incidents of violence in the Swat District. Locals said three people were killed in a clash between SF personnel and the Taliban militants in the Dherai area of Kabal revenue division. Those killed were identified as Bakht Buland, Mian Pirzada and Akbar Zada, they said, adding a Taliban militant was also killed in the clash. Three people were killed as helicopter gun ships targeted Taliban positions in Kabal. The SF's air attack also destroyed a self-proclaimed Taliban court building. Meanwhile, the district's Kooza Bandai, Bar Bandai, Tangolai and Shakardara areas remained under curfew for the seventh day. In the Aligrama area of Kabal, the Taliban militants attacked a SF's convoy killing three SF personnel while another was injured in the attack.

The Peshawar city Police arrested 15 people suspected of having links with the Taliban, during a crackdown in the Mathra Police station precincts. One of the arrested people was a Taliban commander, suspected of training suicide bombers.

February 1

32 persons, including three soldiers, were killed and 22 others sustained injures as the SFs intensified the operation in the Charbagh, Matta and Sangota areas of the Swat District. Locals said most of the people killed in Charbagh and Sangota during shelling were civilians, who were finding it difficult to move to safer places due to the perpetual curfew and escalating clashes. They said SFs targeted suspected positions of militants in Charbagh with artillery before consolidating their position in the town. Eight persons, including four women and two children, were killed and 16 others injured when mortar shells hit several houses in the area. In the Roshanabad area, two persons were shot dead by the SFs when they opened fire on them. Eight bodies of unknown people were retrieved from Shakar Tangay area of Sangota.

A mortar shell hit the house of Rahmat Ali in the Shakro area, killing five persons, including four women. A Police constable, Fazle Mannan, who was abducted by the militants when he was on his way to Rahimabad Police station in Mingora city, was shot dead. The body of an unidentified person was recovered from the Aligrama area of Kabal. Two persons were killed in firing at ambulances belonging to Medicine Sans Frontiers and Edhi, which were shifting the injured to a hospital. Both militants and SFs reportedly blamed each other for the incident.

Three SF personnel were killed in a clash with the militants in the Sar Banda area of Matta sub-division. During the clash, a militant was also killed which was confirmed by the Taliban spokesman in Swat. Three more SF personnel were injured during the militants' attack on the Frontier Corps camps in Kanju and Dherai. In the Parri area of Barikot, councillor Muhammad Hanif was shot dead by unidentified assailants.

The ISPR-run Swat Media Centre in Mingora claimed that the SFs have killed 16 militants during the last 24 hours.

February 2

The military claimed it had killed 70 Taliban militants and injured several others during its assault on a village in the Chaharbagh sub-division of Swat District. Officials said residents had already vacated the village on February 1 before troops launched the operation. They said the SFs targeted Taliban hideouts in the Alamganj and Waliabad areas of Chaharbagh, killing approximately 70 militants.

The Swat Police recovered eight bullet-ridden bodies from the region. "The bullet-ridden bodies of eight local residents were found in various areas of Swat," said an unnamed Police official. He blamed the killings on the Taliban militants loyal to Maulana Fazlullah.

Trapped amidst clashes between the Taliban and SFs, residents in Swat have begun a mass exodus from the area. Thousands of civilians were fleeing the fighting in the valley. The people leaving Swat are joining thousands of villagers who have fled fighting in other restive areas, particularly Bajaur Agency. Government officials have blamed the militants for using villagers as human shields. "Thousands of people are migrating from the areas of fighting because of the military operations and the militants' use of civilians as human shields," the Swat valley's top administrator, said Shaukat Khan Yousafzai.

February 3

Over 70 militants were killed by SFs during clashes in the Swat District in the night of February 2 and February 3. A group of Taliban militants were attacked and dispersed by troops in the Alam Ganj Waliabad area of Charbagh on February 2-night. In the evening of February 3, the militants gathered again and were reported to be planning an attack when the SFs cornered them. At least 64 militants were killed and several others were injured.

The militants surrounded the Shamozai Police post manned by about 30 personnel. Six militants and three SF personnel were killed and 10 persons, including five militants, were injured in an exchange of fire.

Suspected militants attacked a military convoy on the Mingora bypass. Troops subsequently cordoned off the area and launched an operation, killing four militants.

The Takhtaband village on the bypass was deserted with residents having left their homes and moved to other areas fearing retaliatory attack by the army. Thousands of people of Aligrama, Koza and Bara Bandai, Kanju and Akhund Kalley have also reportedly left their homes and are reported to be going to Mardan, Nowshera, Peshawar and other places. An exodus of about 45,000 people has been reported from Charbagh and adjoining areas. According to official sources, about 300,000 people have left the Swat valley so far and many of them have taken refuge in camps set up by the authorities in different areas.

A man was killed and 18 others injured in a hand grenade attack on a Sunni mosque at Mohallah Joginwala in the Dera Ismail Khan District. The attacker hurled the hand grenade at the worshippers in Madani mosque during Maghrib prayers, Police said. Local Police officer Yaseen Khan said the explosion had caused a stampede as panicked people tried to flee.

February 4

Nine members of the Bara-based Lashkar-e-Islam militant group were killed in an encounter with the Police and the Qaumi Lashkar (militia) comprising armed villagers when they allegedly attempted to kidnap the chief official of Bazidkhel union council near Peshawar. Three Policemen sustained injuries in the first incident of its kind in which the Police and villagers jointly countered the militants operating in Peshawar.

The Taliban in Swat set free 30 SF personnel in the presence of journalists in the Kotli Dadhara area of Kabal sub-division in Swat District, after securing written promise from them that they would quit their Government jobs. "The hostages have been released on humanitarian grounds, but with a condition that they will quit their jobs and never fight against the Taliban," local Taliban leaders told journalists after a meeting of the Taliban Shura (executive council). The SF personnel were abducted on February 3 when the militants overran a Police checkpoint in Shamozai area adjacent to the Lower Dir district. The area had been under siege for 36 hours. The SF personnel surrendered when they ran out of ammunition and their request for reinforcements from the army base camp in Kabal went unheeded, a freed policeman said. Taliban leaders said the released SF personnel would publish advertisements in local newspapers, announcing their resignation and promising never to take part in any future action against the Taliban.

The Taliban's siege of the checkpoint triggered shelling from the military base in Kabal, Swat and Chakdara Fort. Four civilians were consequently killed in the shelling. Local people said the victims were taking breakfast when mortar shells hit their homes, killing them on the spot.

A militant commander, identified as Noor Rehman, was killed while several others were injured in an exchange of fire between SFs and militants in the Kandeel area of Madyan sub-division.

The militants torched the house of a close relative of Awami National Party's senior leader Afzal Khan in the Bagh Dehri area of Matta sub-division. Unlike other legislators elected from the Swat valley, Afzal Khan, a former federal minister, has not left his native Daroshkhela village despite several attempts made by Taliban to kill him and his relatives.

A private TV channel reported that a French aid agency has suspended its operations in Swat after two of its Pakistani workers were killed.

February 5

Three women were killed in Swat District as Taliban continued their attack on people they consider to be pro-government. The women, Zarmina, Zarbibi and Farzana, were killed and three men were kidnapped when militants stormed their house in Dagai village and accused them of supporting security personnel manning the nearby Wenai bridge post.

A suicide attacker detonated an explosive-laden car near a Police station in the Mingora town, injuring a dozen officers and destroying part of the building, said Dilawar Khan Bangash, the Police chief. Bangash said militants also fired three rockets before the attack and one damaged a nearby hotel.

A truck driver was injured when a remote-controlled device, planted by militants on the Mingora-Takhta Band Road, exploded. The truck, which was loaded with ration, was part of a convoy of Security Forces.

Militants blew up two Government schools in the Nazarabad area of Matta sub-division.

The house of Police constable Abdul Kamal was set on fire in the Kala Kalley area of Kabal sub-division.

February 6

One passenger was killed and two others were injured when unidentified gunmen opened fire on a passenger coach near Gandiyali area in the Kohat District. Sources said that a Rawalpindi-bound coach was attacked when it reached Gumbat area, leaving one Muzammil Hussain dead while Muhammad Shafique Ahmed, a Frontier Corps soldier, and driver Ahmedullah Khan injured. Meanwhile, talking from an undisclosed location by phone, the Darra Adamkhel spokesman for the TTP, Muhammad, claimed responsibility for the incident.

11 civilians and three SF personnel were killed in fierce clashes between the SFs and militants in different areas of the Swat District. A group of militants loyal to Maulana Fazlullah ambushed a vehicle of the SFs in the Aligrama area of Kabal sub-division and killed three soldiers on the spot. Troops subsequently targeted suspected militant hideouts with artillery fire. Four persons were killed in heavy shelling and fire between the SFs and militants in Takhtaband area in the outskirts of Mingora city. Helicopter gunships were reportedly used to target militant positions. Three people were been killed and ten injured as mortar shells hit houses in the Shewar area of Matta sub-division. Further, a father and his son were killed and a woman was injured as mortar shell hit their house in the Sekhbanr area of Matta sub-division. In addition, the decapitated body of Habibullah was recovered in the Alam Ganj area of Khwazakhela sub-division. A motorcyclist was killed in firing in the Dherai area of Kabal.

Taliban kidnapped at least 35 people after evicting them from their houses in the Shahukhel area of Hangu District. The kidnapped people belong to the Mushti tribe and the residents said the Taliban claimed to have 'arrested' them after public complaints were filed against them.

26 persons, including 11 children and a soldier, were killed while 38 others sustained injuries when mortar shells hit some houses during ongoing clashes between SFs and militants in the Qasimkhel area of Darra Adamkhel. Sources said militants fired three rockets at the Babozai check-post, killing a soldier, Mirdad, and injuring two others. SFs also retaliated and an exchange of fire continued for sometime, during which heavy weapons were reportedly used. Reports said several shells fell at the main gate of the Government Girls Primary School Qasimkhel and nearby houses on the outskirts of Darra Adamkhel.

Nine persons, including five militants, were killed and 11 others sustained injuries in artillery shelling and incidents of violence in the Swat District. Sources told that five militants and two civilians were killed and five others sustained injuries when gunship helicopters shelled the Engaro Dherai, Takhta Band and Ogaday areas near Mingora city.

An artillery shell fired by the SFs hit the house of one Fazlullah in Chuprial area, killing his two children and injuring his wife and a child.

Six soldiers were injured in an encounter between the SFs and militants in the Charbagh area.

The SFs targeted suspected hideouts of the militants in the Shakar Dara, Kuza Bandai and Bara Bandai areas of Kabal sub-division with gunship helicopters and artillery.

Unidentified men torched a Basic Health Unit in the Nazarabad area of Matta sub-division. However, no loss of life was reported as no one was present in the building.

Suspected militants destroyed the Takhta Band bridge by planting an explosives device.

Militants torched a boy's school in the Matta sub-division, bringing the number of destroyed schools to 190.

18 FC personnel were injured in a suicide attack on the Baran Pul check-post of the Frontier Reserve Police (FRP) in the jurisdiction of Bakkakhel police station in Bannu District. Sources said a suicide bomber driving an explosives-laden mini truck hit the building of the FRP check-post at Baran Pul, injuring 18 FC soldiers.

One soldier was killed and 13 persons, including two civilians, were wounded as SFs and militants clashed in different areas of the Swat District. Sources said the militants attacked a convoy of the SFs in the Kanju area of Kabal revenue division, killing a soldier and injuring another. The militants subsequently fled when the SFs retaliated.

The militants opened fire on SFs in Charbagh area injuring two more soldiers.

A convoy of the SFs was attacked with an explosive device in the Bara Bandai area of Kabal, leaving a soldier injured.

Two civilians were wounded in firing by the SFs in the Hazara area of Kabal.

The Swat-based Taliban leader Maulana Muhammad Alam alias Khalil has asked the people of Malakand division not to pay electricity bills. Announcing this on FM radio, Khalil said his militants would teach a lesson to those who tried to disconnect the power supply in the area. "We are demanding our rights but these are being denied. Therefore, the people of Malakand must not pay utility bills to the Government… We would either implement the Sharia [Islamic law] in Swat or embrace martyrdom," he said. He vowed to continue efforts for the Sharia enforcement and claimed that the uprising from Swat would spill over to the whole country.

The local Taliban leadership has decided to send its militants to Islamabad as a reaction to the military operations in Darra Adamkhel and Swat Valley in the NWFP and in this regard chalkings on the walls of Islamabad are already appearing. Many religious scholars in Islamabad have also received messages from the Taliban that they have only two options, either to support the Taliban or leave the capital or they will be considered collaborators of the "pro-American Zardari government" which, they claim, is not different from the previous Musharraf regime. The Taliban have also reportedly accused some militant leaders of the tribal areas and some leaders of the banned LeT, HuM and HM of trying to stop youngsters from fighting the Pakistani forces. Taliban have declared all these "pro-Pakistan" Jihadis as their enemies. The names of Maulvi Nazir from South Wazirastan, Hafiz Gul Bahadur from North Waziristan, Hafiz Muhammad Saeed, Maulana Farooq Kashmiri and Syed Salahuddin have been included in the hit lists of the Taliban, who have threatened some HM leaders in Swat and Dir to leave the areas as soon as possible. In addition, another Taliban leader in the Mohmand Agency, Maulvi Omar Khalid, has threatened LeT cadres to leave the tribal agency or face death. Khalid has claimed that these militants are only interested in fighting against the foreign troops in Afghanistan or against India.

Alamzeb Khan, a Member of Provincial Assembly from the ruling Awami National Party (ANP), was killed in a remote-controlled bomb blast in Momin Town in Peshawar, the NWFP capital. The blast, which also injured seven others, including the driver, the gunman and personal assistant of the legislator, occurred on the day the newly-appointed special US envoy for Pakistan and Afghanistan, Richard Holbrooke, was paying a visit to the city and the adjacent Khyber Agency. Locals said Khan was on his way to attend a function in the city when his car was hit by a huge explosion at around 11:20 am on the main road of the Momin Town, close to his residence. "It was triggered through a remote control," Capital City Police Officer Safwat Ghayyur told journalists. Alamzeb Khan was elected a member of the NWFP Assembly from the PF-1 in the general elections in 2008.

Three soldiers were killed and several others were injured during clashes between SFs and militants in the Charbagh area of Swat District. Sources said the militants besieged and attacked a SFs' camp in Darul Uloom Charbagh with heavy weaponry. The attack triggered a fierce gun-battle between the troops and militants, which was reportedly continuing till last reports were filed. Militants claimed that three SF personnel were killed and several others sustained injuries in the encounter while the camp building was also damaged. The adjacent houses and shops were also reportedly damaged in the attack. The militants' sources claimed that they had inflicted heavy losses on SFs in Charbagh, but the Swat-based spokesman for the military rebutted the claim.

The militants kidnapped the provincial chief of the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) along with others but freed them after 'investigation'. The militants abducted the ICRC provincial chief, Daniel Romali, along with his teammates, during 'checking' in the Qambar area. However, they were later freed after 'questioning'. Daniel Romali belongs to Switzerland while his associates were Pakistanis.

The militants kidnapped the driver of Swat District and Sessions Judge, Sher Zaman, and shifted him to an undisclosed location. His vehicle was also seized by the militants.

The Swat-based Taliban leader and FM radio presenter Maulana Muhammad Alam alias Khalil claimed during an address that the Taliban had the addresses and names of children of the SF personnel engaged in fighting with Taliban in Swat. He read out some of the names of officials, their addresses and names of their children and the educational institutes in which they were studying.

Thousands of protesters set a three-day deadline to the Government to implement Sharia (Islamic law) or they would march towards Islamabad. The protesters staged a rally at Barikot in favour of the Sharia implementation. The protesters, who had come from surrounding villages and gathered in the Barikot Square, warned that if Sharia was not enforced within three days, they would march towards Islamabad on foot.

Five persons were killed and 12 others injured during the ongoing military operation in Swat District. One person was killed in the Shahdara area of Mingora town when SFs opened fire on him. In another incident, a man was shot dead in the Spairdar area of Matta sub-division. Sources said 12 persons were injured during the shelling in Kanju area. A child, peering out of windows of a house, was hit by a bullet, killing him on the spot. The mother of the child, who rushed to pick the body, was also killed in the firing. Sources said SF personnel resorted to indiscriminate firing after a remote-controlled bomb attack on their convoy in Kanju. They said one soldier sustained injuries in the attack.

A trooper was killed in an attack on the Takhtaband area, while several others sustained injuries. The militants claimed to have inflicted heavy losses on SFs, but the latter have rejected this claim.

After the attack on the FC camp in Kanju, the SFs targeted Takhtaband, Qamber and Charbagh with artillery.

The militants set ablaze the furniture of the destroyed Government Girls' High School in Odigram.

The militants kidnapped a Police official during checking of vehicles and shifted him to an undisclosed location. The militants are reportedly stopping vehicles at Qamber, question passengers and examine their national identity cards. Such checking has reportedly been increasing despite the military operations.

The militants have again taken control of Charbagh sub-division, while the SFs fired about 400 mortar shells on the area. Sources said two women were killed due to the firing of mortar shells by the SFs on Charbagh. Earlier, the militants attacked five positions of the SFs. They attacked the troops at Zarai Tehqiqati Farm, Takhtaband, Matta Police station, Charbagh Darul Uloom, Kanju post and FC camp in Kanju with rockets and small arms.

Five persons, including a security official, were killed and several others sustained injuries in Swat District. Sources said the militants attacked the SFs at Zarai Tehqiqati Farm Takhtaband, killing one soldier and injuring many others. Further, a soldier sustained injuries during a clash with the militants in Khwazakhela. In addition, three civilians, Taj Muhammad, Malik Zada and Gul Rahman, were killed and an unidentified person was wounded during shelling by the SFs. They reportedly targeted suspected positions of the militants in the Bedara area of Matta sub-division. A man, identified as Mulla Jan, was killed when a soldier in a convoy of the SFs opened fire in the Kanju area of Kabal sub-division.

In continuation of their protest, residents in Mingora, the district headquarters of Swat, took to streets, demanding enforcement of Sharia (Islamic law).

The Taliban killed two veil-clad women in the Kohat District and dumped the bodies by a roadside. Police official Riaz Khan said the slain women had a 'bad reputation' and were warned by people about a year ago to abandon their 'immoral ways'. The bullet-riddled bodies of the women, about 25 and 40 years old, were dumped on a roadside.

Militants set free a Chinese engineer they had kidnapped six months ago from Lower Dir District. Long Xiaowei, who worked for a Chinese mobile phone company, was handed over to officials in the Shamozai area of Bari Kot subdivision of Swat District in the evening of February 14 and he was immediately taken to Islamabad where the Chinese Embassy confirmed his release. Press officer of the embassy, Li Ming, said that Xiaowei had safely arrived and he would go to China soon. Sources told in Peshawar that Xiaowei had been released on payment of a huge amount of money as ransom, but the militants' spokesman Muslim Khan said in Swat that the engineer had been freed as a goodwill gesture. Xiaowei and his colleague Zhang Guo were abducted on August 29, 2008 from Khal area of Lower Dir where they were inspecting a telecommunication tower. Guo, however, managed to escape in October 2008 when SFs launched an operation in Swat. He was assisted by a local man named Liaquat Ali who was later shot dead by the militants.

Four members of a family, including a minor, were killed in the Swat District. Sources said a shell fired by the SFs hit a house in the Hazara area of Kabal sub-division, killing four members and wounding 10 others of a family.

Suspected militants destroyed a school in the Charbagh sub-division. The school was already in the custody of the Taliban, who were using it as a base camp.

The militants snatched a truck supplying ration for the SFs in the Koza Bandai area of Kabal.

The militants attacked the Saidu Sharif airport with rockets and heavy weapons, which triggered a clash with the SFs. However, there were no reports about casualties.

The NWFP Government formally announced the implementation of Sharia (Islamic law) known as the Nizam-e-Adl Regulations 2009 in Malakand Division and Kohistan District. "The provincial Government in consultation with all political parties, Sufi Muhammad and Ulema with the approval of Federal Government introduced changes in the 1999 Nizam-e-Adl Regulation. Today I announce promulgation of Nizam-e-Adl Regulation (Amended) 2009… The regulations will be implemented in Malakand following the return of peace and restoration of writ of the Government," NWFP Chief Minister Amir Haider Khan Hoti told a press conference after chairing a jirga (council of elders) in Peshawar. The jirga was attended by a 29-member Tehreek-e-Nafaz-e-Shariat-e-Mohammadi (TNSM) delegation from Dir, leaders and representatives of political and religious parties, members of the NWFP cabinet and senior bureaucrats. He said the Nizam-e-Adl Regulation 2009 had been approved by President Asif Zardari following consultation with TNSM representatives.

"We will reciprocate the militants' 10-day armistice with a cease-fire for good," the Chief Minister said. Hoti also said troops would remain in "reactive mode" instead of "proactive mode" and would not target anyone unless threatened. He said the army should be removed only after peace has been restored. For its implementation, Hoti said, a task force comprising the federal secretary interior, the NWFP chief secretary, the provincial presidents of the ANP and the PPP, the law and home secretaries, would be established.

The centre has released PKR 623 million to the NWFP and FATA administration to provide compensation to the victims of militancy, an official announcement said. President Asif Zardari is reported to have termed the victims of militancy as national heroes and advised the NWFP Government to immediately undertake payment of compensation to their families. PKR 283 million have been released for the FATA and another PKR 340 million for the NWFP Government to compensate the families of the victims of suicide bombings and acts of terror. Under the compensation programme, PKR 300,000 will be paid for every fatality and PKR 100,000 for the injured.

February 17

Five people were killed and 17 injured in a car bomb blast outside the Hujra (male guest house) of the union council chief in Bazidkhel village of Peshawar. Faheemur Rahman, the union council chief of Bazidkhel, eight kilometres south of Peshawar on Kohat Road, alleged that the Mangal Bagh-led LI was involved in this "cheap act" of terrorism. Eyewitnesses said the blast occurred in a car parked on a street near the Hujra of Rahman. The blast also destroyed two cars and damaged six buildings.

Suspected Taliban militants patrolled the Harichand Bazaar in Charsadda and threatened barbers, Internet café and CD shop owners to close their "un-Islamic businesses". The militants also destroyed CDs at some shops they visited. They ordered women to wear veils and asked people to support them in the implementation of Sharia (Islamic law) in the area. The Police arrested one of the men and shifted him to an undisclosed location for interrogation.

February 18

A TV and print media journalist was found dead hours after he was abducted in Swat. Musa Khankhel, correspondent for The News and a private TV channel, Geo News, was covering a ‘peace march’ led by Maulana Sufi Mohammed, chief of the Tehreek-e-Nafaz-e-Shariat-e-Mohammadi (TNSM) in Matta when he was kidnapped and later found dead, said Mingora-based journalists.

The TNSM chief Sufi Mohammed led hundreds of supporters and activists in a march to plead peace with the leadership of the Swat-based Taliban. Before leaving for the Matta sub-division of Swat District, Sufi and his activists staged a peace rally in Mingora town. Police and witnesses estimated that 15,000 people marched in the crowd, waving black and white flags as they paraded through the town. The TNSM spokesman said Sufi Mohammad would stay in Swat District till the complete restoration of peace in the valley and surrender by the Taliban.

A meeting of the Swat chapter of the TTP was held at an unidentified location in Matta in which top commanders and Fazlullah’s lieutenants participated. They reportedly constituted a committee to hold talks with the TNSM. Further, speaking at a press conference in Mingora, the NWFP Senior Minister Bashir Bilour said the Nizam-e-Adl Regulation 2009 could also be replicated in other districts following its success in the Malakand Division. The provincial Government wanted to solve problems through dialogue as use of force was not a solution to problems, he added. He said that courts in Malakand would not be like that of Afghanistan’s Taliban but the regulation was aimed at providing speedy justice. A 14-member TNSM delegation headed by Safiullah met Bilour and reportedly discussed the regulation in detail.

Police in Peshawar, the NWFP capital, recovered 100 kilograms of explosive material from a vehicle. Police Sources said a suspicious vehicle that was chasing the vehicle of the Provincial Sports Minister Syed Aqil Shah was intercepted and even as occupants of the van fled abandoning their vehicle, Police recovered more than 100kg of explosive material from the vehicle.

February 19

A bomb exploded at the Government Degree College in Peshawar. However, no casualties were reported. An unnamed Police official told that it was a low intensity device, which was only meant to create panic. The device was planted on the building’s second floor and exploded around 12pm.

The Swat Taliban chief Mullah Fazlullah discussed with the TNSM chief Maulana Sufi Muhammad the Swat peace deal in a meeting at an undisclosed location in the Matta sub-division of Swat District. TNSM spokesman Izzat Khan said Sufi and his delegation tried to convince Fazlullah and other Taliban leaders to disarm. He also said the TNSM chief told the Taliban that he too had given up his protest after the announcement that Sharia (Islamic law) would be implemented in the Malakand Division. The spokesman said Fazlullah has sought a day’s time for consultation with his Shura (executive council). He would talk to his associates after the Friday prayer on February 20 to make a decision, Izzat Khan said.

February 20

32 persons were killed and 145 others injured when a suicide bomber exploded himself in the funeral procession of a slain employee of the Tehsil Municipal Administration near the busy Shubra Square in Dera Ismail Khan. Sources said the funeral procession of local Shia community leader Sher Zaman alias Shera, who was killed in firing by unidentified persons on February 19, was heading towards Kotly Imam Hussain for his Namaz-e-Janaza (funeral prayer) and burial when a suicide bomber ran into the mourners and blew himself up. "We cannot immediately say who could be behind the bombing but it appeared to be linked with the ongoing sectarian attacks," said Saadullah Khan, the local police station chief. "The head and a foot of the suicide bomber has been found at the scene. The bomber appeared to be 20 years old with a beard," he added. Riots broke out in the city following the blast, and Police confirmed that two people were killed in the firing that followed the suicide bombing. Separately, Police said they had arrested three of the four people suspected of killing Sher Zaman.

February 21

Two people were killed and five others injured in Dera Ismail Khan, as curfew remained in place and the army and Police continued to patrol the streets, the District administration said. The District Nazim (local official), Haji Abdul Rauf, said armed men opened fire on members of the funeral procession of those who died in February 20 bombing, injuring seven persons two of whom died later in the hospital.

Two suicide bombers were killed when their explosives-laden car blew up before hitting its intended target in the Lakki town of Bannu District. The bombers intended to ram the vehicle into a Police post but it exploded a few metres short of its target, Police officer Muhammad Habibullah said. "We have found body parts of two bombers from the blown up vehicle," the officer told, adding, there were no Police casualties.

February 22

Taliban abducted and later released the new District Co-ordination Officer (DCO) in Swat and his six bodyguards to secure the release of their three aides. "We have released the official and his six guards in exchange for the release of our two colleagues," said Taliban spokesman Muslim Khan. "The Government has released two (of) our men and soon they will release the third. The Government violated the agreement by arresting our men in Peshawar and killing in Dir (district) that is why we had to do this," Khan said.

The Swat Private School Management Association Chairman Ahmed Shah said all the private educational institutions would be opened on February 23, but girls would go to schools in veil.

The NWFP Government would arm 30,000 civilians in an attempt to counter criminal gangs operating across the province as authorities formally approved the setting up of an Elite Police Force (EPF) by sanctioning 2,657 vacancies. The Government would give 30,000 rifles to civilians after proper scrutiny by a committee, headed by respective district co-ordination officers. The respective station house officer would recommend the names of civilians for the village defence committees (VDCs), which would assist law-enforcement agencies in maintaining law and order in their respective areas. "After going through a thorough process, the government will provide rifles and permits to 30,000 members of the VDCs to counter criminal gangs in the area with the help of the public," said an official.

The Taliban said they would decide within days whether to call a permanent cease-fire in Swat after the Government agreed to allow Sharia (Islamic law) in the valley. Muslim Khan, spokesman for Taliban leader Maulana Fazlullah, said they would review their current 10-day truce in the Swat valley when it expires. "We declared a 10-day cease-fire just after the agreement was signed and you will see an exemplary peace prevail in the valley once Sharia is enforced… In the next five or six days, our Shura [executive council] is meeting and it will decide about a permanent ceasefire," Khan told. Fazlullah said the cease-fire would be made permanent provided the militants were confident about the Government’s intentions. He was speaking after talks with Tehreek TNSM chief Maulana Sufi Mohammed, who signed the deal with the Government. Sufi held a meeting with close aides in Mingora to review the situation, his spokesman Ameer Izzat said. Earlier on February 21, the Government and the Swat chapter of TTP agreed to a permanent cease-fire in Swat after Fazlullah accepted the Nizam-e-Adl Regulation 2009, leading the Government to announce the reopening of schools and return of the internally-displaced persons. Speaking on his FM channel, Fazlullah indicated that he would give up fighting in Swat but would not surrender. Fazlullah also stated that he would continue his struggle at the international level and the fight against the US till Washington was defeated.

February 23

A Police guard was killed when he flung himself onto a suicide bomber to prevent him from entering a compound in Bannu. The attacker was trying to enter the compound, where judges and senior police officials live and work, when the guard intercepted him. "The suicide bomber tried to enter the compound. Then the police guard saw him, grabbed him and he exploded himself," local Police official Ghafar Ali told by telephone. Two other police guards were wounded in the attack.

Suspected Taliban militants blew up five houses in Adezai village near Darra Adam Khel. An official of the Mattani Police station said suspected Taliban militants had planted explosives near the houses. Three vehicles were also damaged in the explosion. However, no casualties were reported.

Maulana Sufi Muhammad, chief of the banned TNSM, announced a 10-point peace plan for Swat in a press conference in Mingora. Sufi asked the Taliban to remove all their check-posts and not to display arms in the Swat valley. He asked the Government to withdraw troops from schools and other buildings and stop all military operations immediately. He also called on the Taliban and Government to release each others prisoners. The TNSM chief asked employees of the District administration to resume their duties, and the Government to reinstate such Frontier Corps, Police and Government officials who had been dismissed during the past few years. He also demanded immediate compensation for the people of Swat, inviting the NWFP Chief Minister to visit the valley to make an announcement in this regard.

Schools reopened in Mingora and other areas of Swat, but girls’ attendance at both the Government and private schools remained thin. The Swat District Coordination Officer Khushhal Khan said arrangements would soon be made to rebuild the schools that had been destroyed.

The military operation in Swat has been stopped and the Pakistan Army fully supports the peace deal as an instrument to find a non-military solution to the problem, the Inter-Services Public Relations Director-General Major General Athar Abbas said while addressing a seminar. "Pakistan Army ... has backed the Swat peace deal to strengthen the hands of the political government," he said, adding that the security of the state was the military’s top priority.

February 24

Two civilians were killed in a bomb blast targeting Police near the garrison town of Kohat. "An improvised explosive device planted on the Kohat-Rawalpindi Road went off as a police van passed," District Police Officer Abdullah Khan said. The Policemen were unhurt but the blast killed two motorcyclists in the Bahadurkot area, he said.

The Taliban in Swat declared an indefinite cease-fire in the valley. The decision was made in a meeting of the Taliban shura (executive council), Taliban spokesman Muslim Khan said. Taliban chief Mullah Fazlullah announced the decision in a speech that was reportedly cut short when the security forces blocked the transmission of his FM radio channel. A private TV channel said the Security Forces had imported equipment to jam the radio transmission and used it for the first time. Fazlullah asked his men to stop displaying weapons, end their armed patrols and not to attack security convoys or abduct Government officials, according to copies of the speech sent to the media. He urged the Government to restore all officials removed during the unrest in Swat. Fazlullah ordered his commanders to disband their checkpoints, which he said created "unnecessary problems" for residents. The Taliban chief also stopped all non-government organisations (NGOs) from operating in the valley until the implementation of Sharia (Islamic law). "All NGOs should leave Swat because they are creating problems for peace," Fazlullah said in the speech. But he added that emergency medical crews were exempt from the order. Fazlullah called on soldiers deployed in Swat to remain at their bases, vowing to retaliate against any troop increase.

More than 500 police officials returned to their duties in the valley following last week’s agreement between the NWFP Government and the TNSM that includes the implementation of Sharia in Malakand Division and Kohistan District. More Policemen are expected to return to their offices in two days. The move follows Malakand police chief’s announcement of ‘amnesty’ for the officials who had quit their jobs as Taliban took control of parts of the Swat valley.

Taliban disbanded checkpoints and stopped carrying weapons in public a day after announcing an indefinite cease-fire in the Swat valley. Taliban commander Mullah Fazlullah ordered his followers to disband checkpoints in a speech on his illegal FM radio station late on February 24 and asked them not to carry weapons in public. "The Taliban have removed their checkpoints in and around Mingora," Irfan Ahmad, a resident of Swat, said. Another Swat resident, Mushtaq Khan, said checkpoints have been removed from Matta, Charbagh and Kabal, all Taliban strongholds. "We adhere to the announcement made by Mullah Fazlullah on Tuesday night… We will completely remove all checkpoints after army troops withdraw from the area," said Taliban spokesman Muslim Khan. Fazlullah announced that the Taliban would not attack army vehicles carrying rations or moving between bases. Khan also said girls could go to schools if they are properly veiled.

February 26

Three rockets fired from the Bara area of Khyber Agency landed in fields near the Mattani Police station in Peshawar. However, there was no loss of life or damage to property. Three rockets had landed in the Pishtakhara area of the provincial capital, without causing any damage.

Suspected Taliban militants stopped a SFs convoy from entering Mingora in the Swat District by planting a roadside bomb in Balogram area. Sources said the Malakand Division Commissioner, TNSM chief Maulana Sufi Mohammed and representatives of the Taliban had started talks to sort out the matter.

SFs have vacated all checkpoints in the Swat valley as part of the ongoing efforts to restore peace and stopped checking vehicles forthwith. Sufi Muhammad had asked the troops to demolish all the checkpoints to ensure free movement of the people. He had also asked the Taliban to direct their fighters to stop their activities and display of weapons at public places. However, the sources said militants were still blocking the movement of SFs in Qamber and Takhtaband. The militants reportedly forced eight vehicles of the military to move back to Barikot. Locals from Mingora said that militants were still patrolling public places in Qamber, a town situated three kilometers from Mingora. In addition, the Taliban have 'arrested' five of their fighters for flouting the directives of their leadership of non-interference and announced to award them punishment in line with Sharia (Islamic law).

Sufi Muhammad said he was ready to play his role for restoration of peace in Waziristan and Bajaur. He said he was in consultation with the Malakand Commissioner, Deputy Inspector General of Police (Malakand Range), and senior military officials for restoration of peace in Swat. He said he was also in contact with the Taliban leadership. He called on the people of Malakand Division and Kohistan District to withdraw all the cases pending before the courts in order to file them afresh under the proposed Nizam-e-Adl Regulation 2009.

Over 700 policemen have so far reportedly rejoined their duties and those suspended are trying to restore their services. All major trading centres, markets, bazaars, commercial banks, Government and semi-government offices and educational institutions were opened.

March 1

SFs killed seven militants in an encounter in the Ghurzandi area of Lachi sub-division in Kohat District. Sources said SFs cordoned off the Ghurzandi, Hoti Banda and Chashmi Miangan areas in an attempt to arrest the militants, who were allegedly involved in incidents of kidnapping for ransom and murder. The militants allegedly opened fire on the troops, injuring a soldier identified as Irfan Sajjad. In retaliatory action by the SFs, seven militants were killed and five others wounded. The troops also reportedly freed four persons, who had been kidnapped by the militants a few days back.

SFs arrested two activists of the Jamiat Ulema-i-Islam (Fazlur Rehman faction), including Ahmed Nawaz Haqqani and Masroor Shah, on suspicion of having links with the militants.

The Taliban in Dir District have threatened to carry out suicide attacks against their opponents and district administration in Doog Darra area of Upper Dir if they did not stop organising volunteers against militants to expel them from the area. "The central shura of Taliban has firmly decided under Sharia principles to carry out further attacks against the US agents in Doog Darra area and the law enforcement agencies if they did not stop disturbing Taliban there," a Taliban spokesman threatened. Talking on telephone from an unspecified location, the District chief of Dir Taliban Hafeezullah said that Mullah Mansoor had been appointed as their new spokesman in the District. While welcoming the peace deal between the NWFP Government and TNSM chief Maulana Sufi Mohammad, he said the Taliban would restart their activities if the proposed Nizam-e-Adl Regulations 2009 were not enforced forthwith. "Now the ball is not in the court of Taliban but in the court of government," he added. Later, the newly-appointed spokesman Mullah Mansoor claimed that one of his men had been shot dead by Police in Upper Dir some days ago and then an official statement was issued that he had blown up himself.

Two FC soldiers were injured in the Kabal sub-division of Swat District in a gun and bomb attack on a security convoy. The banned TTP claimed responsibility for the attack in Sarsanai area of Kabal. The army said the attack violated the recent truce between the Government and the Taliban.

A FC commander and his four guards were abducted in the Kambar area of Swat valley. According to a television channel, the Malakand Commissioner Muhammad Javed said he was in contact with TNSM chief Maulana Sufi Muhammad for the release of the kidnapped men. Talking to another channel, the Swat Peace Committee chief Inamur Rehman said efforts for the release of the abducted FC commander had been accelerated.

The NWFP Government has withdrawn its decision regarding the distribution of rifles among villagers to protect their areas against militants. The decision was taken during a meeting of the NWFP cabinet chaired by Chief Minister Ameer Haider Hoti in capital Peshawar on February 28. The meeting discussed the arms distribution and majority of the members asked for reversal of the decision following which the cabinet decided not to go for distribution of rifles, said Information Minister Mian Iftikhar. The Government had taken the decision of arms distribution on the demand of people of the troubled areas, the minister explained. He also said the cabinet observed that arms distribution among villagers would create more problems instead of providing some help to the Government.

March 3

Four unidentified bodies presumed to be of foreign militants were recovered in the Babu Khwar Muslimabad area of Nowshera. The Cantonment Police inspector Shakeel Khan told the media that all of them had been shot dead and the bullet shells were recovered from the spot. However, there was no sign of blood near the place where the bodies were abandoned, he added. Police in the initial investigation maintained that the deceased were killed at least 72 hours before their bodies were retrieved. About the identity of the deceased, the Police said two of them seemed to be Uzbeks or Tajiks while the remaining two were said to be Afghan nationals having long locks and beards. They were said to be 25 to 30-year-old. However, the reason behind their killing was yet to be ascertained.

Militants killed two SF personnel in an ambush in the Ronyal village of Matta sub-division in Swat District and kidnapped, but released after some time, three NWFP Government officials. The military described the attack on SF personnel a violation of the peace agreement, but chief of the TNSM Maulana Sufi Mohammad blamed the army for moving around without informing the TNSM. The army said a captain was wounded in the ambush and two soldiers were killed when they were carrying water from a water channel. "There absolutely was no violation of the agreement on our part. Our forces were engaged by militants and we did not retaliate," the Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR) Director General Major General Athar Abbas told. "Our security forces are threatened, their ration supplies are disrupted and forces are attacked without any provocation. We have been exercising restraint in larger interest of the people and peace in Swat," he said.

An ISPR press release said the attack was followed by exchange of fire which continued for an hour. Both sides are reported to have used heavy weapons. SFs fired artillery shells for the first time after a cease-fire was declared in Swat. One mortar shell hit a house, killing a man. Taliban spokesman Muslim Khan claimed the soldiers were attacked because of their movement in the area without giving prior information. He alleged that the movement of troops was pre-planned and aimed at consolidating their positions. At a press conference in Saidu Sharif, Sufi Mohammad blamed the SFs for the incident and said that they had violated the truce. According to him, it had been decided that no side would move till mid-March, except with prior permission of the TNSM. He said it was agreed that whenever the troops wanted to move they would inform the TNSM in advance to avoid misunderstanding. "The troops didn’t inform us which led to the ill-fated incident," he said. The TNSM, he said, was satisfied with the Taliban activities, but had reservations about the role of SFs in the peace process.

Provincial director and assistant director of anti-corruption Yamin Khan and Bakht Zada and their aide Hameed were abducted near Qamber when they were on way to Mingora from provincial capital Peshawar. Suspected militants intercepted their car and took them to an undisclosed location. They were, however, freed in the evening on Sufi Mohammad’s intervention.

March 4

The NWFP Government struck a 17-point deal with the banned TNSM in the Swat valley. "A 17-point understanding was reached with a TNSM delegation … music has been banned in Swat and it has been agreed to expel prostitutes and pimps from the district," said a senior official. The Awami National Party (ANP) and the Pakistan People’s Party (PPP) co-led the provincial Government at the talks, while Maulana Safiullah and spokesman Amir Izzat Khan represented the TNSM – with Malakand Commissioner Syed Muhammad Javed also in attendance. The meeting came a day after suspected Taliban militants killed two army troops and continued taking Government officials hostage, despite having agreed to a cease-fire in the wake of the provincial Government’s February 16 accord on the implementation of Sharia (Islamic law) in Swat.

March 5

One person was killed and 19 others sustained injuries when a hand-grenade hurled by unidentified miscreants at the worshippers exploded in Ameer Hamza mosque on Circular Road in Dera Ismail Khan. Eyewitnesses said unidentified miscreants threw a hand-grenade at the worshipers from the main gate when they were offering their evening prayers in the mosque, which exploded killing a civilian and injuring 19 others.

Successive bomb blasts in the Khurshid Market of Takhtbhai destroyed 24 shops. No casualty was, however, reported. Shopkeepers told that the miscreants planted explosive devices at three places in the market. They said about three months ago they had received threats to wind up their "un-Islamic business". Bahadur Khan, the market watchman, said around 10 Taliban-styled men reached the market at midnight and after overpowering him, planted bombs in the market.

Suspected Taliban militants blew an ancient shrine of a 17th century Sufi poet - Rehman Baba - in the Akhund Baba graveyard of Peshawar, capital of the NWFP, said locals and police, with the reporting that a letter delivered three days before the attack to the management of the mausoleum had warned against its promotion of ‘shrine culture’. The white-marble shrine was badly damaged when explosives planted along its pillars went off at around 5:10am. There were, however, no casualties.

Militants fired 18 mortar shells at a union council official’s house, said police, but the house was not damaged and there were no casualties.

The TNSM chief Maulana Sufi Muhammad and Swat Taliban chief Mulla Fazlullah met at an undisclosed location to discuss the implementation of the Swat peace deal with the Government. Sources said that Sufi had firmly told Fazlullah to stop armed Taliban militants from patrolling Mingora and other parts of Swat and lay down weapons immediately. Sufi said talks with the provincial Government had been satisfactory and the Taliban’s demands would be met soon, while Fazlullah’s response had also been positive, they said. Meanwhile, the TNSM spokesman Izzat Khan told after a meeting between a TNSM jirga and the Malakand Commissioner that the Government had accepted only one demand for the withdrawal of the army from Imamdheri Markaz. He said that Takhtaband-Angrodheri Road was still closed, "and this is making us suspicious … the government should take steps to overcome my group’s mistrust".

March 6

A union council official was killed and his bodyguard injured in a remote-controlled bomb explosion in the Bannu District. Kakki Union Council chief Khairullah died and his bodyguard Safiullah sustained injuries in the explosion.

The NWFP Chief Minister Ameer Haider Hoti said in Peshawar that only those Taliban prisoners that fall in the ‘white category’ will be released as part of the peace deal in Swat. Prisoners in the black and grey categories – who are a serious threat to national security according to police investigation manual – will not be freed, he told. "I have directed the home secretary to look into the cases of those prisoners who are in the white category. We will not free prisoners in black and grey categories," the chief minister said. Maulana Sufi Muhammad, chief of the banned TNSM, had demanded the release of all Taliban prisoners arrested during military operations in Swat.

March 7

Eight persons, including five Policemen, two Frontier Corps personnel, and a civilian, were killed in a remote-controlled car bombing at Mashugagr village in Peshawar. Some villagers also sustained minor injuries. Muhammad Wali, a villager, said the car was unlocked and the villagers had found the body of an old man in it. "The blast occurred when police officials walked towards the vehicle," he said. Security officials said about 40 kilogrammes of explosives were packed in the vehicle. They said it was likely that the militants who had blown up the shrine of Sufi poet Rehman Baba were involved.

Two civilians were killed and seven others, including six SF personnel, injured in another car bombing at Darra Adam Khel. Eyewitnesses said the Taliban detonated a car parked alongside the road when a convoy of Mehsud Scouts reached Bazi Khel graveyard. They said SFs launched indiscriminate fire after the attack and arrested 15 locals. At least 10 people were injured.

March 9

One passenger was killed and four others, including a woman, were injured in a rocket attack in Darra Adamkhel. The militants fired rockets at the Kohat Friendship Tunnel in retaliation to a large-scale crackdown launched against them by the military, which moved into their suspected hideouts with tanks and also used three Cobra helicopters in the operation. A rocket fired by the militants hit two commuter vans near the tunnel, killing a civilian, Hayatullah, on the spot and wounding four other passengers. The military said that the operation had been planned in view of the increasing attacks on troops and bomb blasts in Kohat and on the Indus Highway in Darra Adamkhel.

The NWFP Chief Minister Ameer Haider Hoti signed the draft of the proposed Nizam-e-Adl (Sharia) Regulation 2009, and sent it to Governor Owais Ghani to be forwarded to the President for approval, sources in Chief Minister’s Secretariat told. The TNSM has set March 15 as the deadline for the Government to implement Sharia (Islamic law) in Malakand. NWFP Law Minister Arshad Abdullah told a press conference that the provincial Government had given final shape to the Nizam-e-Adl Regulation 2009 and President Asif Ali Zardari would sign the document in three days. The law minister said the regulation would deal with criminal cases only. According to the regulation, the minister said that two appellate Sharia courts – Darul Qaza and Darul-Darul Qaza – would be established in Malakand Division. He said that verdicts delivered by the Darul Qaza court could be challenged in the Darul-Darul Qaza court, whose verdict would be final. The law minister also said the Nizam-e-Adl Regulations would be deemed to have come into effect on February 16.

March 10

SFs backed by helicopter gunships killed at least 35 Taliban militants during a two-day operation in Darra Adamkhel, Inter-Services Public Relations sources said. The SFs targeted the militants in Buland, Mirali and Torchena areas. Three SF personnel were reportedly wounded in the operation, the sources said, adding that several Taliban hideouts had been destroyed.

March 11

The NWFP Senior Minister and Awami National Party leader Bashir Ahmad Bilour survived an assassination attempt that left six persons, including two suspected suicide attackers, dead in Namak Mandi in the provincial capital Peshawar. Four persons, including a young girl, were wounded in the firing, grenade attack and suicide blast. "Bilour and others were coming back after opening a road project when a young man, followed by another, rushed towards him while loudly reciting Allaho Akbar. A security official pushed the attacker back after explosives around his vest did not go off despite his repeated attempts," said an eyewitness. A nearby shopkeeper said the attacker fell on the ground after which one of them lobbed a grenade at the crowd. Police, he added, also opened fire. A vendor, Tehmash, was killed while constable Himayatullah, a trader, Khalilur Rahman, and a six-year-old were injured in the incident. Even as the attackers managed to flee the Security Force personnel continued to chase them until the attackers forced their entry into the house of an auto-mechanic located around 500 meters from the earlier spot. Police besieged the house and "As the terrorists failed to find any way out, they triggered the explosives around the vest of one of them, killing the two attackers and three members of the family that owned the house," a Police official said. Bashir Ahmad Bilour told media persons that it was second failed attempt on his life.

The NWFP Governor Owais Ahmed Ghani signed the draft of Nizam-e-Adl (Sharia) Regulation 2009, for forwarding it to the president for a final approval, official sources told. The sources, however, did not confirm if the draft had been sent to the president. NWFP Law Minister Arshad Abdullah said the Nizam-e-Adl Regulation 2009 was expected to be implemented in Malakand Division and Kohistan District by March 15, and would have a retrospective effect from February 16, 2009. The minister said President Asif Ali Zardari had verbally agreed with the NWFP Government to sign the draft as soon as he received it. The Nizam-e-Adl Regulation will repeal the Code of Criminal Procedure (Amendment) Ordinance 2001, the law through which the executive magistracy was abolished across the country on August 14, 2001, and will revive the former system including the offices of district magistrate, additional district magistrate, sub-divisional magistrate and other executive magistrates.

March 12

Unidentified men blew up 20 shops in three explosions at Khor Market in Nowshera. According to Police, at least 12 shops were damaged while five were destroyed in the explosion.

Militants took hostage 20 Policemen escorting the procession of TNSM chief Maulana Sufi Muhammad, representatives of the Government, Taliban and Qaumi Amn Jirga that was taking the newly-appointed Qazis (Islamic judges) to different areas of the Swat District. The Police officials, riding two mobile vehicles, were providing security to the procession, which was taking the Qazis to their offices. The militants kidnapped all the 20 Police officials in Qamber, a town located three kilometers before Mingora. However, the Policemen were later freed on the intervention of Sufi Muhammad and others.

The Swat-based TTP demanded that the Police and paramilitary forces should resume their duties wearing plain clothes and not their uniforms. Sources in the TNSM told that the Taliban’s demand came after the appointment of Qazis to hear cases in accordance with Sharia (Islamic law) in Swat District. The sources said the Taliban had asked TNSM chief Sufi Muhammad to forward their demand to the Government.

A Shia couple was shot dead while passing on a motorbike through the area. Muhammad Sharif, a low-ranking anti-terrorist court official in Dera Ismail Khan, and his wife died when unidentified gunmen, also on a motorbike, opened indiscriminate gunfire. "It was a targeted killing," local Police official Ehsanullah Khan said. Khan also said the couple lived in a small Shia community close to South Waziristan. The two gunmen escaped after the shooting, the official said.

March 15

Intelligence officials said that two missiles fired by suspected United States drone planes killed five people at Chota Janikhel village in the Bannu District. The officials said the dead included two Arabs and three other people. The missiles struck a house at around 10:30pm.

Two Sunnis were shot dead in the second apparent sectarian attack in Dera Ismail Khan in as many days. Muhammad Shoaib and Asad Khan were killed a day after a Shia couple were shot dead by armed motorcyclists in the same area. The two men were coming out of a mosque when the gunmen opened fire, before escaping on a motorbike, Police official Ehsanullah Khan told. "It seems to be a sectarian killing," he added.

Dozens of suspected Taliban militants attacked a terminal storing NATO supplies on the Ring Road in Peshawar, destroying at least 12 trucks and 20 containers. This is the first major attack on a NATO depot since February 2009. Police sources said several militants started firing at trucks and torching trailers vehicles parked at the terminal. Following an exchange of fire, the militants escaped. There were no casualties. Two truck drivers were injured in the attack. They torched trucks contained food, while a witness said some military vehicles were also being transported to the border. City Superintendent of Police Ijaz Abid said that around 40 militants attacked the terminal using guns and petrol bombs.

March 16

Suspected Taliban militants torched 30 vehicles in an attack in Peshawar on a terminal for trucks carrying supplies for NATO forces in Afghanistan. Truck drivers at the Al-Faisal Terminal said over 50 armed men entered the compound after breaking the boundary wall firing rockets and Kalashnikovs. The militants remained in the terminal for about an hour, sprinkled trucks with oil and later set them ablaze. There were reports the attackers escaped towards Bara. This was the second such attack in two days. 20 vehicles had been burnt in an attack on a terminal in the Hazarkhwani area on March 15.

12 activists and leaders of the outlawed Sunni group SSP were arrested in a crackdown by Police in Dera Ismail Khan. Sources said the Police had launched a crackdown on the SSP and arrested 12 activists, including principal secretary of provincial legislator Khalifa Abdul Qayyum. Raids were reportedly conducted in Alam Sher Colony, Madena Colony, Shiekh Yousaf Adda and Katch Painda Khan.

March 17

Police claimed to have arrested a would-be suicide bomber along with his relatives during a raid in the Turangzai village of Charsadda District. Addressing a press conference, the District Police Officer (DPO) Muhammad Riaz said the Police raided a house in Turangzai and arrested a would-be suicide bomber, identified as Qari Shahid Ali, his father Kifayat, brother Imran and sister Iffat Begum, who is a lady Police constable, and a minor. He said Police also seized a suicide vest, a Kalashnikov rifle, a computer set, CDs and literatures from their possession. The DPO said the suicide bomber confessed to have links with the banned TTP headed by Baitullah Mehsud. He also said the would-be suicide bomber and one Kamran were allegedly involved in plotting the earlier suicide bombings in which the Pakistan People's Party (Sherpao faction) chief Aftab Sherpao and Awami National Party chief Asfandyar Wali Khan were targets. "The bomber was planning to target NWFP Chief Minister Ameer Haider Hoti’s father and former federal minister Azam Khan Hoti, and Imtiaz Shagai, the recently-elected PPP MPA from Mardan’s PF-30 constituency," the DPO added. He said the bomber was a teacher in Maulana Zubair’s seminary and was an active member of the TTP in the area.

March 18

Four Policemen and a Malakand University security guard were killed and three others were injured in a gunfight with militants on the premises of the campus. The Taliban later ‘arrested’ 14 militants involved in the incident in a search operation. Sources said about 40 armed men in the guise of Taliban arrived at the university’s main entrance and opened fire on the guard, Khaliqdad, for offering resistance. The guard sustained serious bullet injuries. After receiving information, a Police party of Ouch Police Station rushed to the incident site but the militants fired a rocket at the Police van, killing three Policemen on the spot. The Police van driver Muhammad Nazeer and security guard Khaliqdad succumbed to their injuries at the hospital. Meanwhile, the militants escaped in two vans of the university, leaving behind their own vehicles and some arms. Sources said soon after the incident, the Swat-based Taliban launched a search operation in Shamozai area and ‘arrested’ 14 militants, besides seizing both the vans of the university from their possession.

The militants’ threats have forced hundreds of compact disc (CDs) dealers in Mardan District to close their business. A survey conducted by The News revealed that so far over 100 music and CD shops had been blown up in various areas of the District. Six shops were destroyed while 20 were damaged near the Punjab Regimental Centre, 15 shops were blown up in Chato Chowk, 10 destroyed in Mir Afzal Khan Market, 10 at Hoti Chowk, six in Bakhshali, two at Ghari Chowk, nine on Gaju Khan Road in the City Police Station limits, while 25 shops were blown up in Takhtbhai bazaar and five were recently bombed in Sherghar.

Militants armed with rocket launchers and other sophisticated weapons patrolled the suburbs of provincial capital Peshawar. Militants in around 12 double-cabin pickups patrolled the Ring Road and the Bara Road in the afternoon. The militants later disappeared before the Security Forces could challenge them.

The NWFP Government directed the judges of subordinate judiciary of the Peshawar High Court in Swat not to attend courts and restrict themselves to their houses. The order came after a warning from the TNSM chief Maulana Sufi Muhammad to the judges of Swat not to attend their courts. A civil judge in Swat told that after Sufi’s warning, they had been directed by the Government and district administration not to attend courts due to security concerns. The judge, however, said most of the judges had started deciding cases of petty nature at their houses due to security reasons.

March 19

Suspected Taliban militants blew up a 500kV electricity pylon in the limits of Urmur Police Station plunging several parts of Peshawar, capital of the NWFP, into darkness. A spokesman of the Peshawar Electric Supply Company told reporters the explosion destroyed the tower.

SFs arrested 14 Taliban militants at the Gammon check-post in the Khawazakhela sub-division of Swat District. Armed militants subsequently came out on the roads in Alam Gunj and Dakorak areas to protest the arrest. However, sources said the SFs released the militants soon after the arrest.

March 20

The SFs have set free 15 more Taliban prisoners, including the brother of banned TTP Swat chapter spokesman Muslim Khan, after the NWFP Government’s peace accord with Maulana Sufi Mohammad, the chief of outlawed TNSM. Sources said the Taliban had handed a list of 220 prisoners to the Government after the peace accord. However, 15 militants were released, bringing the tally of the freed militants to 28 after the peace accord. The released militants included Noorul Huda, Ayub, Dilaram, Inayat, Fazle Ilahi, Anwar Hussain, Muzaffar, Rehmat, Munir Khan, Gul Zada, Saddam Hussain, Muhammad Yaqub, Arsala Khan, Sher Bahadur, Umar Khan and Zahir Shah. Noorul Huda is the brother of TTP Swat spokesman Muslim Khan.

Unidentified armed men attacked a SFs convoy in the Sarsenai area of Kabal sub-division. Even as the troops retaliated, no casualty was reported in the incident.

March 22

Unidentified men blew up a girls’ school in the Mardan District. According to Police sources, the men planted explosives near the Government Girls High School Hattian, located near the residence of the NWFP senior minister Rahim Dad Khan. However, no casualties were reported.

Unidentified men fired two rockets at a Police station near Gomal University for Women in Dera Ismail Khan. However, no casualties were reported. The channel said there were reports of firing in several areas of the city after the attack near the university.

An imambargah (a Shia place of worship) was partially damaged by an explosion near the building in Tank city. No casualties were reported.

The TTP ordered all NGOs to immediately leave Swat. In an interview with IRIN, the TTP spokesman Muslim Khan said, "They come and tell us how to make lavatories in mosques and houses. I’m sure we can do it ourselves. There is no need for foreigners to tell us this... NGO is another name for ‘vulgarity and obscenity’." He also said NGOs hired women who worked with men, in the field and in offices. "That is totally unIslamic and unacceptable," he declared. When asked why the TTP was against the polio vaccination, Khan said, "The TTP is against polio vaccination because it causes infertility." "I’m 45 and have never had one drop of the vaccine and I am still alive," he said, adding that another reason the TTP was against polio vaccination was that the campaign was run by NGOs and the vaccine was imported.

A member of the banned Sunni group SSP was killed in an apparent sectarian attack in Dera Ismail Khan. Abu Khan, an SSP activist, was near his shop on the outskirts of Dera Ismail Khan when two gunmen shot him dead and later escaped on their motorbike, witnesses told. A boy on the street was also wounded. Local Police official Rasheed Khan said "He was an active member of Sipah-e-Sahaba… It seems to be a sectarian killing."

Unidentified persons fired a rocket at the cantonment area in Kohat which damaged the boundary wall of junior section of a school, situated near the combined military hospital. Police said that the rocket hit the boundary wall of the school resulting in a big explosion which also destroyed the windowpanes of the school and nearby buildings. SFs reportedly retaliated by targeting the hideouts of militants with artillery in the mountains of Darra Adamkhel.

12 persons, including a woman, were killed and 22 others sustained injuries when a teenage suicide bomber blew himself up outside a crowded restaurant in the Jandola bazaar of Tank District. A pro-government group of Bhittani tribesmen, led by Haji Turkistan, is believed to have been the target of the suicide attacker. Eyewitnesses told from Jandola - the gateway to South Waziristan - that a young boy blew himself up outside the crowded restaurant in the bazaar. The bazaar is located in front of heavily guarded British-era fort, currently inhabited by the Frontier Corps and the Army. The Taliban claimed responsibility for the attack. "The TTP claims responsibility for the suicide attack in Jandola," spokesman Maulvi Omar said in a telephone call from an unknown place to reporters in Bajaur. He called the suicide attack a revenge for the clashes in 2008. "Turkistan Bitani's fighters killed 35 of our people last year, and we killed his people today in the suicide attack," Omar added.

Unidentified men blew up a power pylon in the Mirza Kali Urmur area of Peshawar, the NWFP capital, suspending power supply to the adjacent areas. Police sources said the men had planted explosives under the 500KV tower. Shaukat Afzal, the Peshawar Electric Supply Company spokesman, said the assailants had blown up tower number 295.

29 shops were destroyed as suspected militants blew up two markets in the Thana town of the Malakand region. Suspected militants had planted three improvised explosive devices in the Mina Bazaar and the Bara (Upper) Bazaar in Thana, two of which exploded. 24 shops were destroyed in the Mina Bazaar and five in Bara Bazaar, causing huge financial losses to traders. The third, a home-made bomb, was defused by personnel of the Malakand Levies.

Three Sunnis were killed in an apparent sectarian attack in Dera Ismail Khan. Motorcycle-borne gunmen opened indiscriminate gunfire on a medical store, killing its owner and two relatives. Three other men were injured, an unnamed Police official said, adding that the victims were from the Sunni community. "The killings were linked to sectarian violence," he added.

SFs and militants clashed in the Qamber area of Swat District, which resulted in the death of a recently released militant, 'commander' Hayat Khan, and injuries to a soldier. The gunfight occurred when militants allegedly fired at a convoy of the SFs, which was taking ration to Qamber town on the outskirts of Mingora. This was the third clash between the militants and SFs after the peace deal between the NWFP Government and the TNSM.

Seven persons, including five Army soldiers, were killed and nine others sustained injuries when a suicide bomber rammed his explosive-laden car into a military convoy near a filling station on the Bannu-Miranshah Road. The dead also included an Assistant Engineer of Radio Pakistan Razmak station, Basharat Afridi, and a lady travelling in a passenger coach. However, military spokesman and ISPR Director-General Major General Athar Abbas said the explosion was caused by an improvised explosive device planted in a roadside car.

The military convoy was on its way to Miranshah, the headquarters of North Waziristan Agency, from Bannu in NWFP when it came under attack near an abandoned security check-post known as Mirzael post, located near a filling station. Officials told that the suicide bomber had parked the explosive-laden car right in the middle of the road and rammed it into the military convoy when it arrived at the scene. Eyewitnesses said the soldiers, after the attack on the convoy, opened indiscriminate fire that caused bullet injuries to five people, including a woman, travelling in a passenger coach from Peshawar to Miranshah. Basharat Afridi of Radio Pakistan Razmak station and the woman later succumbed to their injuries. No militant group has so far claimed responsibility for the attack.

Militants ambushed a Police mobile van on the Dir-Kohistan Road in Upper Dir District, killing five Police officials, including a Station House Officer and an Assistant Sub-inspector, and injuring two others. Area residents and officials said the militants fired two rockets at the van in Jitkot village in the jurisdiction of Sheringal Police station, setting the vehicle on fire. After the rocket attack, the militants, whose strength could not be ascertained, opened fire on the van. The rocket and rifle attack killed five Police officials, including two senior officers.

More than 70 Taliban militants attacked the famous Gojaro Kalay emerald mine in Shangla District and took control of the mining operations. The mine had been leased to American firm Luxury International, which had been paying Pakistan PKR 40 million a year. The company had left recently because of the security situation. The Taliban took positions around the mine after the security guards fled. They announced to take control of mining operations and offered the locals to work with them and share the profits.

SFs released 10 more Taliban militants. Sources said SFs, under the peace pact signed between the NWFP Government and the banned TNSM, freed 10 more militants. Those released were identified as Maulana Abdul Shakoor, Rohul Amin and his namesake, Amjad, Aftabuddin, Muhammad Sahib, Khan Nawab, Zakria, Fazal Akbar and Gul Akbar. The Government has released a total of 44 Taliban militants so far.

Thousands of local residents staged a protest in Manglawar and demanded immediate withdrawal of security forces from the check-posts established near the civilian population and schools and colleges.

A would-be suicide bomber shot himself dead before hitting his target i.e. the funeral prayers for slain Police official Fateh Rehman in the Haryan Kot area of Dargai sub-division. Five Police personnel, including Station House Officer Fateh Rehman, were killed in a rocket and rifle attack on a Police mobile van by militants near Jitkot village in Upper Dir District on April 1. Sources said the bomber abandoned a bag full of explosives and his suicide vest and hurled two hand-grenades at the people before fleeing. However, the hand-grenades did not explode and he shot himself on the spot with a pistol. The villagers found a national identity card with the body identifying him as Irshadul Haq, son of Niaz Muhammad, of Targhao area in Bajaur Agency.

Police in Dera Ismail Khan arrested 28 suspected terrorists linked to various banned religious groups. According to the Dera Ismail Khan District Police Officer Muhammad Iqbal, the Police were carrying out search operations in the District to arrest saboteurs, adding the action would help eradicate sectarianism and terrorism. The second day of a joint search operation by the Pakistan Army and Police was carried out in Madina Colony and Mohallah Chah Syed Munawar Shah areas. A Kalashnikov, a rifle and bullets were seized. With this, the total number of arrests has increased to 116. The operation that was launched on April 1 is expected to continue for a few days.

A would-be suicide bomber was killed when he tried to target the Pakistan People's Party-Sherpao (PPP-S) NWFP President Sikandar Hayat Khan Sherpao in Charsadda District. Sherpao, a member of the NWFP provincial assembly and a son of the former NWFP Chief Minister Aftab Ahmad Khan Sherpao, was addressing a public gathering in the Mandani area of Charsadda, at the time. A Mandani Police Station official told the Police ordered the would-be bomber to stop, who was approaching on a bicycle. They opened fire at him after he ignored repeated warnings to stop. The attacker was killed and his aide was arrested. The attacker was wearing a suicide vest, said sources.

Dozens of armed Taliban militants stormed a NATO supplies container terminal in Peshawar, the NWFP capital, and torched nine vehicles and several offices. Police and locals said the terminal, located on the Ring Road in Pishtakhara Police station precincts, was attacked early in the morning, adding that the Taliban and Police exchanged heavy fire, but no casualties were reported. Police officials said there were more than 100 militants who participated in the raid. They said the Taliban also used rockets to target the Police party but failed to hit anyone. Meanwhile, the Taliban had destroyed nine vehicles parked at the terminal. The vehicles were bound for international forces in Afghanistan. "There were no casualties in the attack early Friday, but the fire destroyed nine NATO vehicles, including fire-fighting vans and 4x4 jeeps," local Police official Fazal Wahid Khan told

The Taliban militants intruded into the National Database and Registration Authority (NADRA) office in Swat, and barred those present in the building from working, a private TV channel reported. According to the channel, the armed militants intruded into the office in the morning and told the officials to stop routine operations. The group said it had stopped the officials from working because men and women were working in the same place. They demanded the NADRA authorities ensure that men and women work separately in the office.

President Asif Ali Zardari has strongly condemned the flogging of a 17-year-old girl in public in Swat and ordered an inquiry into the matter. Presidential spokesman Farhatullah Babar said Zardari had sought a report from the NWFP Government and the local administration and called for arresting those responsible. The two-minute video reportedly shows the girl, wearing a veil, face down on the ground with two men holding her arms and feet and a third man in a black turban with a long beard whipping her. The incident occurred in the Kala Killay area of Kabal sub-division.

Taliban spokesman Muslim Khan acknowledged that his group was responsible for the flogging in public, "because no indoor arrangement for Islamic punishment could be made, as we are at war with the government". The provincial Government spokesman Mian Iftikhar said the flogging took place on January 3, much before the peace deal with the Taliban. "We believe there is a conspiracy to sabotage the peace process by airing a video recorded before the deal," he claimed. Muslim Khan, however, said, "this incident took place nine months ago." Muslim Khan also said the Taliban had handed out a 'lenient' punishment to the girl - suggesting she would have been stoned to death had a 'serious view' of the 'crime' been taken. Samar Minallah - who works for a Pakistani human rights organisation - distributed the video given to her by people in Swat to the Western media. "The entire village knows she is innocent," Samar told. She told The Guardian that the flogging had taken place in the last 10 days.

SFs killed a suspected Taliban militant in the Dooba area of Hangu District. Locals said some Taliban militants were on their way to Zargari when SF personnel stationed at the Shanwari Zargari check-post asked them to stop. When they tried to escape, the troops fired at them, killing one of the militant. The others, however, managed to escape from the incident site.

Unidentified men blew up a girls' school in Jahangir Khel in the precincts of Miryan Police Station of Bannu District. Police sources said the men had placed explosives in the building of the Government Girls' School, damaging it. However, no casualties were reported.

Chand Bibi, the young girl who was shown being flogged by the Swat Taliban in a videotape aired on television channels, gave a statement to a Qazi (Islamic judge), denying the incident. Mian Iftikhar Hussain, the NWFP Information Minister, told that she made the statement to Mohammad Riaz, the judge of the Qazi Court for Matta Tehsil (revenue division), and the Commissioner of Malakand Division, Syed Mohammad Javed, both of whom visited her village, Kala Killay, in Kabal sub-division. Quoting the Commissioner, Mian Iftikhar said Chand Bibi made it clear that she was indeed married to Adalat Khan and everyone in the village knew about it. She refuted the reports that both of them were flogged by the Taliban as punishment for maintaining illicit relations and then forcibly married. According to the information minister, the Commissioner and the Judge had visited Kala Killay to record the statements of the couple on the directive of the NWFP Chief Secretary. The Chief Secretary and Inspector General of Police (NWFP) had been directed by Chief Justice of the Supreme Court of Pakistan, Iftikhar Mohammad Chaudhry, to appear before his court and also produce the girl who was flogged. The Chief Justice had taken suo moto notice of the case after the two-minute videotape was shown on TV channels.

The Government freed three more Taliban militants from Mingora, as part of its peace accord with the TNSM. The total number of released Taliban militants has now reached 47. The men freed have been identified as Munawar Hassan, Abdul Haliq and Qadeem. The Taliban had provided a list of 220 of their men to the Government that they wanted released.

A volunteer of Buner Qaumi Lashkar was killed and another sustained injuries when Taliban militants opened fire in the Gokand area of Buner District. Residents from various villages and sub-divisions had formed the Lashkar (militia) to confront around 100 Taliban militants who had entered Buner from Swat on April 5. The Taliban said they would stay in Buner until their chief had had talks with the local chapter of the TNSM.

21 people, including 16 Taliban militants, were killed in an overnight clash when local volunteers and Police personnel tried to enter the Gokand Valley to flush out militants who had infiltrated into Buner area on April 4 from the neighbouring Swat District. Three policemen and two Lashkar (militia) volunteers were among the dead. When the combined force attempted to enter the area via Rajagaly Kandow from the Pir Baba side and dislodge the militants, Taliban militants took position and reportedly refused to go back. Sources said that the militants had sent 16 bodies and taken 13 of their wounded colleagues to Swat via Kalil Kandow.

Suspected Taliban militants planted a remote-controlled bomb that blew up a music shop and neighbouring stalls at Charsadda bus stand in Peshawar. "CD and music centres, as well as three other shops were destroyed when a locally-made bomb went off in front of a bus stand in Faqirabad area," local Police official Anwar Khan said. No casualties were reported as the shops were closed overnight when the bomb exploded, Police added.

Militants of the banned TTP, Swat chapter, occupied a local college and a filling station while a traffic constable was also kidnapped in the Swat valley. Sources said that armed militants stormed the Government Technical College in Pan area of Mingora city and occupied all its rooms. In addition, unidentified men abducted a traffic constable in Mingora city. In another incident, the militants occupied a filling station in Barikot, owned by Said Ahmed, a resident of Buner District.

Expressing satisfaction over the truce in the Malakand Division, the NWFP Information Minister Mian Iftikhar Hussain said the Government's writ had been restored in about 70 per cent of Swat area after the February 16 peace deal. "This is a suitable recipe for bringing peace and we shall apply it wherever it is needed once it proves successful in Malakand Division," Mian Iftikhar told a press conference in Peshawar. Briefing journalists after the 10th meeting of the provincial cabinet, the minister said militants had agreed to lay down arms after the enforcement of the Nizam-e-Adl Regulation in Malakand. The minister, however, admitted that situation in parts of Swat was not ideal, but there was no reason to call it disappointing. He claimed that schools and colleges had been reopened, businesses had been resumed and the people were happy.

Maulana Sufi Muhammad, the TNSM chief, concluded his "peace camp" in Swat, in protest against the delay in the implementation of Nizam-e-Adl Regulation. "But the peace deal with the provincial government is intact," Sufi Muhammad told a press conference in Mingora before moving out of the District. "If something unpleasant happens after our peace camp has been wrapped up, President Asif Zardari will be held responsible," Sufi read a written statement in Pushto. He alleged the federal Government was not sincere. TNSM spokesman Amir Izzat Khan said Sufi Muhammad left for Amandara town in Malakand where he will chair a shura (executive council) meeting. "The ball is now in the president's court," he told. However, the Malakand Commissioner Syed Muhammad Javed said the federal Government would sign the regulation soon.

One unidentified militant was killed by the Security Forces when a group of Taliban militants attempted to loot the house of a former District official in village Qalagai. A group of armed militants raided the house of Ajmeer and loaded the valuable household items in their vehicles, besides taking four people with them. However, soon after the raid of the Taliban, the SFs arrived and opened fire on the Taliban convoy.

Taliban spokesman Muslim Khan said peace in the country is only possible through the imposition of Sharia (Islamic law). Talking to Daily Times, he joined Sufi Muhammad in condemning the president for not signing the Nizam-e-Adl Regulation. "We support Sufi Muhammad's stance against the federal government… If clashes between Taliban and the security forces resume, the president will be responsible," he said.

The Taliban agreed to leave Buner District unconditionally after successful talks with a peace jirga (council of elders) in Mingora. Malakand Commissioner Syed Muhammad Javed told a private TV channel the Taliban had agreed to leave Buner and would completely vacate the area by April 10 (today). He said the Taliban had made no demands for vacating the area. Earlier, the local jirga held talks with the Taliban under the supervision of the commissioner. Javed said Maulana Waliullah mediated between the jirga members and Taliban. A group of Swat Taliban had moved into Buner last week. However, local villagers resisted them, engaging the heavily armed militants and killing 20 of them.

A man was killed and two others sustained injuries in a bomb blast in Bannu. According to a private TV channel, a jirga (council of elders) was underway when the blast occurred.

The Taliban extended the cease-fire in Darra Adam Khel for 10 more days. The Taliban announced the extension during a jirga with five local tribes at an undisclosed location. The Taliban also authorised local elders to hold talks with the Government.

Taliban militants triggered a bomb blast in the Chamkani area, outside provincial capital Peshawar, destroying six tankers supplying fuel to the NATO troops in neighbouring Afghanistan. Around 35 tankers were parked at the incident site, when militants placed a bomb under one of the vehicles loaded with diesel, petrol and aviation fuel, said Police official Asmatullah Khan. The blast triggered a fire which spread to another five tankers, he added.

Two police posts were targeted with rockets in the Nowshera District that partially damaged the buildings. However, no casualty was reported.

Instead of pulling out of Buner District as they had announced on April 9, the Taliban of Swat moved to consolidate their hold and took control of new areas, including the shrine of Sufi saint Pir Baba. Security Forces reportedly offered no resistance. "They have taken control of vast areas in Buner. They are freely moving around while police and other law-enforcement personnel remain confined to their posts," said a man who lives near the shrine of Pir Baba. He said that the militants had earlier announced that they would leave after holding a march in various areas. Local people said that the militants, who occupied houses of influential people organising an anti-Taliban militia, were still patrolling the road leading to Daggar, the District headquarters. Militants set on fire TV sets, pictures and paintings and audio and video cassettes before the Friday prayers. They also reportedly locked the shrine, stopping followers of Pir Baba from visiting the place. "We have been asked by our seniors not to interfere with the Taliban," said an officer of the Pir Baba Police station. He said the Taliban had advanced weapons, some of which he had "never seen before".

The TNSM assured the NWFP Government that it would keep the peace deal intact, but warned that the delay by President Asif Ali Zardari in signing the Nizam-e-Adl Regulation could hinder the return of peace to the Swat Valley. The NWFP Information Minister Mian Iftikhar Hussain and the peace envoy to the NWFP Government Afrasiyab Khattak reportedly went to Batkhela to meet the TNSM chief Maulana Sufi Muhammad, who wound up the peace camp in Swat on April 9. However, Sufi Muhammad refused to meet the visiting delegation in protest against the delay in the signing of the Nizam-e-Adl Regulation. "We met him (Sufi) during the Friday prayers but he did not participate in the talks," said Mian Iftikhar.

Mian Iftikhar and Afrasiyab, accompanied by Home Secretary Fayaz Toru, Malakand Commissioner Syed Muhammad Javed and District Coordination Officer Malakand Agency Arshad Khan, held talks with the TNSM team, represented by its spokesman Amir Izzat Khan, Maulana Syed Wahab, Ghayasuddin, Latif Khan and Multanmir. After negotiations, Mian Iftikhar said they agreed to keep the deal intact. He contradicted some media reports about the scrapping of the accord and said some elements were bent upon sabotaging the agreement but their nefarious designs would be foiled. Talking to reporters, Amir Izzat said their agreement with the provincial Government was intact. "Sufi Muhammad just wound up the peace camp in protest and it is not related to the scrapping of the pact," he said. The TNSM spokesman said Sufi Muhammad did not take part in the talks in protest and would not hold negotiations with the Government till the implementation of the Nizam-e-Adl Regulation.

A security guard was killed and three others injured when armed men stormed into three terminals storing NATO supplies in the limits of Yakatoot Police Station in Peshawar, capital of the NWFP. A Police official said that around 200 suspected Taliban militants, who attacked the Aasim and Amanullah Terminal on Ring Road, also set ablaze 12 vehicles. He said a guard, Arif, had succumbed to his injuries, while three others were injured.

SFs targeted Taliban hideouts near the border between Hangu District and Kurram Agency in the FATA. Official sources said that dozens of houses and a mosque were also damaged in the attack. However, no casualties were reported. The operation followed a Taliban attack on the convoy of Kurram Agency Political Agent Arshad Majeed near Tutkas area two days ago in which one trooper was killed and seven were injured.

The Swat District administration released five Taliban militants in accordance with the peace accord signed by the NWFP Government and the TNSM. Official sources said with the latest release, the number of the Taliban militants released after the deal has risen to 53. The sources identified those released as Fazal Qadeer, Misbahur Rehman, Ameer Rehman, Bahadar Khan and Hafeezullha.

The Taliban from Swat, who have taken control of a number of areas in the Buner District, are converting mosques in Buner into recruitment centres to urge youths to join their ranks. Almost all mosques in Sultanwas, Pacha, Bhai Kaly, Malkpur, Kalakheelam, Jure, Bagra, Manyarai and Gokand are being used by them to recruit local people to their cause of enforcing Sharia (Islamic law) in the Malakand Division and eventually in the rest of the country.

The militants took villages in the Chamla sub-division under their 'protection' and faced no resistance from law-enforcement agencies. "We are in touch with their (Taliban) leaders in Swat. The situation will return to normal in a few days," the Buner District Co-ordination Officer Jawed Ahmad said, adding that local people had entered into an agreement with the Taliban in Swat through a trible elders' council. He said: "We are pursuing a policy of restraint. Even a minor mistake can derail the government's peace initiative. These Taliban are peaceful. Till now they have not harmed anyone in the district." He also denied that the Swat Taliban was recruiting youths in Buner.

The head of a bomb disposal squad, Gul Sher Khan, was killed when a bomb planted along Ladi Lora Bridge at Bannu detonated while he was trying to defuse the explosive. Two other persons were also injured in the explosion.

An explosion at a girls' primary school in Noor area destroyed the entire building. However, no casualties were reported from explosions.

Three people, including an Education Department official, were abducted in two separate incidents at Charsadda. Senior Education Department official, Dil Khan, and Haji Muzaffar Mandni were abducted by unidentified men in Hari Chand. In another incident, a man was abducted while travelling between Mandni and Shabqadar.

Taliban militants stopped the polio vaccination campaign launched in Darsmand union council area under Tal tehsil (revenue unit) in Hangu District, threatening to abduct health officials if they would go ahead with the campaign. Khan Meer, head of one of the polio teams working in Darsmand, told that around 10 am armed Taliban militants came to the area and told his three-member team to stop vaccinating children. He said he stopped work in the area immediately after the Taliban warning, and "this is the reason the Taliban have not done anything so far".

Officials said that unidentified men had abducted a renowned businessman of the NWFP, Meer Zaki Shah, from Shanawarai area. Police said the armed men abducted the businessman while he was taking his children home from school.

The Federal Government in Islamabad presented the peace accord to lawmakers for approval. Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani had said the deal would be presented in the National Assembly to reach a consensus on the subject.

April 14

President Asif Ali Zardari signed the Nizam-e-Adl Regulation 2009 for Swat, after the National Assembly passed a resolution in favour of the draft regulation. "Yes, the president has signed the Nizam-e-Adl Regulation before leaving for Dubai on a two-day visit," said presidential spokesman Farhatullah Babar. Earlier on April 13, the National Assembly unanimously passed a resolution recommending the President sign the regulation to be imposed in the Malakand Division in accordance with a peace agreement between the NWFP Government and the TNSM. The Muttahida Qaumi Movement had expressed its reservations over the resolution but abstained from voting to allow it to be passed unanimously. Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani told the National Assembly that the issue had been brought before the House to build a broad national consensus and establish the supremacy of Parliament.

Terming the Army the defender of the country and the nation, the TNSM chief Maulana Sufi Muhammad asked the Taliban to lay down their arms after ratification of the Nizam-e-Adl Regulation 2009 by the president. "The TNSM will extend unflinching support to the Army," he said and added that he would continue efforts to bring peace back to Malakand and other parts of the country. He said a general amnesty would be announced for all those prisoners who were in the captivity of the Taliban at a public meeting soon.

The TTP spokesman for Swat, Haji Muslim Khan, asked the militants to lay down arms. "Henceforth, no one is allowed to take weapons even into the Taliban headquarters in Mamdherai," he said. He also directed the Taliban to cease brandishing any weapons in public places, and anyone defying the orders would not be a Talib. He said that in all the districts of the Malakand Division, Qazis would be deputed and all decisions taken according to Islamic laws. The TTP chief in Swat, Maulana Fazlullah, is reported to have said the federal Government has won the hearts of the people of Malakand and the Taliban with enforcement of Sharia. Talking to a private television channel, Fazlullah said the Taliban will extend full cooperation to the federal Government.

Sharia (Islamic law) courts formally started functioning in Swat after the enforcement of the Sharia justice system. These courts had started functioning in six Tehsils (revenue divisions) of Swat, including Bari Kot, Kabal, Matta, Khwazakhela, Bahrain and Babozai, from March 12, 2009 but owing to delay in signing of the Nizam-e-Adl Regulation by the president, their powers were very limited. However, after approval of the regulation, these courts will have full powers.

April 15

18 persons, including nine Policemen, were killed and five others injured when a suicide bomber rammed an explosives-laden vehicle into the Harichand Police Post in Charsadda District. The NWFP Inspector General of Police, Malik Naveed, said Police wanted to stop the suicide bomber’s speeding car and fired at it, but it had reached close to them by the time the explosives went off. The blast also left a crater about three metres wide, damaged windows in nearby buildings and severed power cables, plunging the area into darkness. District Police Officer Riaz Khan said the attack might be in retaliation to the killing of a suicide bomber by the Charsadda Police a few days ago. The suicide attacker was shot dead by Station House Officer Jehangir Khan, when the bomber was on his way to blew himself up at a public gathering being addressed by the provincial president of the Pakistan People’s Party (Sherpao faction) Sikander Sherpao in Charsadda.

The NWFP Governor Owais Ahmed Ghani signed the Nizam-e-Adl Regulation, formally enforcing Sharia in Malakand Division and Kohistan District. "Today, it is an historic day," he told reporters in provincial capital Peshawar after signing the law two days after President Asif Ali Zardari approved it following a nod from the National Assembly.

The Taliban will not lay down their arms in NWFP as part of the peace deal that included the introduction of Sharia (Islamic law) but will take their "struggle" to new areas, a spokesman of the group said. "Sharia doesn’t permit us to lay down arms… If a government, either in Pakistan or Afghanistan, continues anti-Muslim policies, it’s out of the question that Taliban lay down their arms," Taliban spokesman Muslim Khan said by telephone. "When we achieve our goal at one place, there are other areas where we need to struggle for it," he said. Khan also said militants would go to Afghanistan to fight US-led forces if the Afghan Taliban called for help. "Our struggle is for a cause and that’s to enforce Allah’s rule on Allah’s land. We will send mujahideen to Afghanistan if they demand them," he said.

April 16

A woman was killed when an office of a NGO was blown up with explosives in the Hathian area of Mardan District. Unidentified saboteurs had planted the explosives close to the NGO’s office, which killed a woman walking past the building upon detonation.

April 17

SFs blew up a militant headquarters in the Jarma area of Kohat District. Police said the militants were planning attacks on Police installations, armed robberies and kidnappings.

The SFs raided a seminary in the Kharmatu area of Kohat District and arrested three suspects for allegedly assisting the kidnappers of three Oil and Gas Development Limited employees.

April 18

27 SF personnel were killed and 55 others injured in a suicide attack on a security check post in the Doaba area of Hangu District. Locals told that the attack on the checkpoint, about 45 kilometres southwest of Hangu, took place at around 4:15pm (PST) when SF personnel were visiting the area for the inspection. Two Police vehicles were passing by the check post when the suicide bomber driving a double-cabin pickup rammed the vehicle into the structure, they said. The explosion destroyed the check post, adjacent building housing troops and Police, and eight SF’s vehicles.

A man and a woman accused of committing adultery were shot dead by the Taliban militants in the same District in the presence of their relatives. Later, unidentified persons sent a video to the Dawn newspaper showing a Taliban firing squad killing the man and woman. In the video, the woman is heard appealing to the Taliban for mercy. "Have mercy on me, please have mercy. The charges against me are false and no man has ever touched me," she is heard saying. The Taliban militants first pumped several bullets into the woman’s chest and then fired a burst from assault rifles at her and the man. As the woman was apparently still alive after being shot, some Taliban are heard shouting: "She is alive, kill her." The newspaper quoted its sources as saying that the incident took place a few days ago.

The TTP spokesman Muslim Khan said Sharia (Islamic law) would not be restricted to the Malakand Division in Swat District, and that the Taliban will not lay down weapons unconditionally. Asked whether the Taliban would extend Sharia to other areas of Pakistan, Khan said: "Sure, because [the holy] Quran is not only for Malakand division. It is for all humanity, for all Muslims and we will go for the implementation of Sharia in other parts of Pakistan as well." He also said Taliban would not lay down their weapons unconditionally. "We are Pakhtuns and every Pakhtun has a gun. We have no tanks, no helicopters or jets," he said. Muslim Khan said the Taliban would keep their weapons if the qazi courts allowed them to. He said nobody had asked American forces to keep their weapons on the other side of the Atlantic Ocean or to surrender, but everyone had been asking the Taliban to lay down their arms. About international criticism that the Nizam-e-Adl Regulation 2009 is a parallel system of Government, the Taliban spokesman said: "We don't care about the reaction of the government in Pakistan or abroad."

Unidentified men kidnapped six Security Force personnel and a driver from Swat in separate incidents. Official sources told that two of the troops and the driver of an ambulance were kidnapped from Charbagh area when they were returning from Khwazakhela. The four other soldiers were abducted from Khwazakhela sub-division. No group has claimed responsibility for the abductions.

The Taliban in Swat have said they are not bound to honour the peace accord between the Government and TNSM Maulana Sufi Muhammad. They said the NWFP Government had signed the deal with the TNSM, and not with the Taliban. Taliban spokesman Muslim Khan in a telephone interview with the CNN demanded the imposition of the Taliban's model of Sharia (Islamic law) throughout Pakistan and beyond, "even in America". He also denounced any Pakistanis who disagreed with his interpretation of Islam, calling them "non-Muslims". He also called for the imposition of jiziya, a tax to be levied on all non-Muslims in Pakistan. In an Associated Press interview, he said Osama bin Laden was welcome in Swat. "Yes, we will help them and protect them," he stated. Muslim Khan counted the LeT, the JeM, the Islamic Movement of Uzbekistan, Al Qaeda, and the Taliban of Afghanistan among his allies. "If we need, we can call them and if they need, they can call us," he said.

The TTP is reported to have warned lawyers in the Shangla District of serious consequences if they continued to appear in un-Islamic courts (civil and district courts) from April 22. "Lawyers are warned through this notice not to appear before civil and district courts," a member of the Shangla District Bar Association quoted the letter as saying.

The Interior Adviser Rehman Malik warned of stern action if the TNSM violated the peace agreement it had made with the NWFP Government. He said that the Nizam-e-Adl was invoked in 1994, under which a session judge was named Qazi. "No one should create the ambiguity that any Maulvi (cleric) will hold the charge of a judge," he said. Malik also ruled out lifting the ban on the TNSM.

Taliban militants from Swat took control of Buner and started patrolling bazaars, villages and towns in the District. The militants, who had sneaked into Gokand valley of Buner on April 4, were reported to have been on a looting spree for the past five days. They have robbed Government and NGO offices of vehicles, computers, printers, generators, edible oil containers, and food and nutrition packets. Sources said that leading political figures, businessmen, NGO officials and Khawaneen (feudal lords), who had played a role in setting up a Lashkar (militia) to stop the Taliban from entering Buner, had been forced to move to other areas. The Taliban have extended their control to almost all tehsils (revenue divisions) of the District and law-enforcement personnel remained confined to Police stations and camps. The Taliban, equipped with advanced weapons, were reported to be advancing towards border areas of Swabi, Malakand and Mardan, the hometown of NWFP Chief Minister Amir Haider Khan Hoti. The militants have reportedly set up check-posts and camp bases in Kangar Gali village, along the Malakand border Naway Dhand village, along the Mardan border and Tootalai village, along the Swabi border. Officials of the Frontier Corps camp in Jorh had asked people to vacate their homes in view of threats of an attack.

The Taliban have said they will not leave Buner District until the Nizam-e-Adl was implemented in Malakand Division. "The Taliban will leave Buner after enforcement of the Nizam-e-Adl," the Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan spokesman Muslim Khan told AFP from Swat. "The government writ is not being challenged" in Buner and the Taliban were not creating problems for the administration there, he claimed. "We went into Buner because the administration there had totally failed to provide justice to the people and resolve the problems being faced by them," he added.

Regular courts stopped functioning in Buner after judicial officers went on leave for an indefinite period in compliance with directives of the Peshawar High Court. The TNSM chief, Maulana Sufi Mohammad, had asked the Government on April 19 to abolish regular courts and set up Darul Qaza for appeal by April 23. In the neighbouring Shangla District also, judges could not perform their duties because lawyers did not appear in courts after they received a threat against doing so. In a letter pasted near the bar room, militants had warned lawyers against appearing before courts. Buner and Shangla are two of the seven districts of Malakand Division where the Nizam-e-Adl Regulation 2009 will be enforced.

Maulana Fazlur Rehman, chief of his own faction of the Jamiat Ulema-I-Islam (JuI-F) warned in a speech in the National Assembly that the Taliban were closing in on Islamabad. "You talk about Swat and Buner, but according to my information, they have reached Kala Dhaka and Tarbela. And if they continue advancing, there will be only Margalla Hills between them and the federal capital," he said. He blamed the "civil war-like situation" on former president Pervez Musharraf's decision to join the US-led war on terror. The Swat peace deal was "based on defeat, not success", he said, adding there was no writ of the state in the NWFP.

The SFs claimed to have killed eight militants and destroyed their ammunition depot during operation in different parts of the Kohat region. SFs said that they launched a major operation against militants in the Jammu, Jawaki, and Bulai Khand areas and helicopter gunships killed eight militants during shelling in the mountains of Darra Adamkhel. In addition, the ground troops and helicopters targeted a huge ammunition storage facility of militants in Bulai Khand.

The Taliban spokesman in Darra Adamkhel claimed to have killed 35 SF personnel during a clash in Kohat. The spokesman, Mohammad, told by telephone that the Government took their cease-fire decision as their weakness whereas they had announced a unilateral truce keeping in view the sufferings of the tribesmen.

Six tankers supplying fuel to the NATO forces in Afghanistan were set ablaze and a guard sustained injuries after suspected Taliban militants opened fire on them. A Chamkani Police official told that five militants equipped with sophisticated weapons and rocket launchers entered the Pakistan Oil Tanker terminal at Jhagra Chowk at around 3 am and opened fire on the tankers parked there. He said the guard, Razam Khan, sustained injuries and six tankers were charred. He said at least three blasts were also heard, but the cause was not certain yet.

At the request of the NWFP Government, the TNSM chief Maulana Sufi Mohammad agreed to defer the deadline of April 23 he had set for setting up Darul Qaza (Islamic courts) in Malakand. A meeting of the TNSM Shura (executive council) held at its headquarters in Amandara endorsed Sufi Mohammad's decision to extend the deadline for an indefinite period. TNSM spokesman Amir Izzat Khan told that the Maulana had accepted the provincial Government's request to withdraw his decision of pulling out of the peace accord if Darul Qaza was not set up by April 23.He said the Government was sincere in the enforcement of Nizam-e-Adl Regulation and hoped Darul Qaza and Qazi courts would be set up soon.

The Taliban announced its withdrawal from the Buner District after a meeting between the TNSM chief Maulana Sufi Muhammad and key Government officials. "All the Taliban who have come from [outside Buner] will go back," Amir Izzat Khan, a spokesman of Sufi Muhammad, told. However, sources close to the Taliban said that the "local Taliban will stay in Buner". It was not clear if those who stay will surrender weapons. Witnesses in the Poran sub-division of Shangla District also reported a Taliban withdrawal. The Malakand Commissioner Syed Muhammad Javed told the withdrawal was a result of the peace talks with Sufi.

12 children were killed and four others injured when girls of a local primary school in the in the Luquman Banda area of Lower Dir District had found the toy bomb and were playing with it when it exploded. The dead girls were aged between four and 12 years. Seven of the 12 dead children were from the same family. A woman and three children were injured.

26 Taliban militants, including an important commander, and a trooper were killed after Security Forces launched an operation in the Maidan area of Lower Dir. "At least 26 bodies of Taliban were found from Lal Qila. The FC [Frontier Corps] has taken control of Lal Qila," said the SFs, after the Government decided to establish the writ of the state in areas bordering Swat. An Inter-Services Public Relations statement said, "On the request of the provincial government and the people of Dir, the Frontier Corps launched the operation early on Sunday against suspected Taliban positions in Islampura and Lal Qila in Lower Dir. An exchange of fire took place in Kala Dag and scores of Taliban were killed." It said that a soldier was also killed and four others were injured.

Sources said the troops entered Lal Qila after an intense battle. The SFs reportedly used helicopter gunships and artillery in the operations, and shelled the Tokri and Kal Dherai areas in Maidan, the ancestral village of the TNSM chief Maulana Sufi Muhammad. The SFs fired mortar shells from Chakdara Fort - killing eight Taliban militants, including Lower Dir 'commander' Maulana Shahid, and injuring scores of others. Troops and the Taliban also engaged in crossfire. The NWFP Information Minister Iftikhar Hussain told, "The situation was such that the security forces had no option but to launch an operation … the district police officer (DPO), the district nazim and other officials have already been killed and a number of troops and people kidnapped." Iftikhar said the SFs had been coming under attack, and they had to take action under the circumstances. The minister, however, said that the operation would not affect the Nizam-e-Adl Regulation 2009, and SFs were still present in Malakand.

A spokesman for the TTP, Dir chapter, said the military operation in Dir was unjustified and against the Swat peace deal. Talking to a private TV channel, Mullah Mansoor Dadullah, the TTP spokesman for Dir, said the Taliban would retaliate to the SFs with full force. The government, he said, has no intention to ensure the implementation of the Swat peace deal. We have not violated the deal and, therefore, the operation is unjustified, he claimed, adding the Taliban would attack those who had ordered operation against them in Dir. In addition, the TNSM spokesman Izatt Khan said the operation by SFs in Lower Dir is a 'violation' of the Swat peace deal. Talking to a private TV channel, the spokesman claimed that the house and a seminary owned by TNSM chief Maulana Sufi Muhammad had also been damaged in the operation.

Interior Adviser Rehman Malik said the Government has no option but to take action against the Taliban. Malik said citizens "cannot bear such unwanted elements in the country that compel the government to take action against them". In Islamabad, the Presidential spokesman Farhatullah Babar said the Government's peace deal with the Taliban in Swat is 'intact' despite the launch of a military operation in Lower Dir. Babar said the operation did not void the pact. Lower Dir is part of the Malakand Division, which is covered by the agreement.

The Taliban in Buner District shaved the heads and moustaches of four men as 'punishment for listening to music', said one of the victims. "I was with three other friends in my car, listening to music when armed Taliban stopped us and, after smashing cassettes and the cassette player, they shaved half our heads and moustaches," he said. "The Taliban also beat us up and asked us not to listen to music ever again," said the man. The local Police, however, said they had no information of the incident. The victim said the friends had decided not to file a complaint with Police, as this would have been 'useless'. "It might have annoyed the Taliban further and I fear for my life," said the man. Residents of Mingora in Swat said Taliban posters had been put up in streets and markets ordering women not to go shopping.

Frontier Corps (FC) personnel killed 26 Taliban militants, including key commanders, as Operation Toar Tander-I (Black Thunderstorm-I) continued in the Maidan area of Lower Dir for the second day. "Forty (Taliban), including commanders Maulana Shahid and Qari Quraish, have been killed in the last two days of operation," the FC said in a press statement. Officials said SFs were gaining ground against the Taliban and their hideouts in Kalkot, Islam Dara and Hoshyari Dara were targeted. "After a stiff encounter with the [Taliban], the Frontier Corps soldiers regained control of Lal Qila and flushed them out from Maidan valley," the FC statement added. Paramilitary troops and helicopter gunships bombed suspected Taliban bases during the operation, an unnamed military official told. "Eight security officials were also killed in two days of operation," another military official said. The operation was launched on April 26 after the Taliban militants attacked SFs and Government officials and closed roads for the movement of government and FC convoys.

Two persons, including Lakki Marwat Headquarters Deputy Superintendent of Police (DSP), Asmatullah Khan, were killed when a bomb targeting a Police van exploded in Lakki Marwat. "The remote-controlled bomb was planted near a bridge. It went off when a police van was crossing the bridge," Lakki Marwat town's Police officer Habibullah Khan told. "We received two bodies, one of them was a Police officer," said Doctor Muhammad Shakirullah of the local hospital.

The NWFP Information Minister Mian Iftikhar warned the Taliban of military action if they did not leave Buner district. "Leave Buner or face action," the minister said while addressing a news conference in Timergara where new Malakand Commissioner Fazal Rahim Khattak was also present. The minister said the provincial Government has received reports of presence of "foreign militants" in Buner, where some of the Taliban had been speaking languages the locals could not understand. The foreigners are likely Uzbeks, Chechens or Arabs. The minister said there was no military operation going on in Lower Dir, adding that the clashes there were "retaliation to the attack by miscreants on the security forces". The armed forces were present in Malakand division "only to maintain peace and harmony".

The TNSM has suspended talks with the NWFP Government to protest against the military action in Dir, the TNSM spokesman Amir Izzat Khan told in Mingora city. "We, however, still adhere to the February deal," he told, referring to the accord that sought Taliban disarmament in return for the imposition of sharia law in Malakand division. "We will not hold any talks until the operation ends," he told Associated Press. "The agreements with the Pakistan government are worthless because Pakistani rulers are acting to please Americans," Muslim Khan, spokesman for Taliban in Swat valley said. A Taliban spokesman identified as Umar said to Associated Press that the Taliban would agree to talks about the situation in Dir, but only if the military operation is halted. "We were living peacefully in Dir," Umar added further.

April 28

The Inter-Services Public Relations Director General, Major General Athar Abbas, told a news conference in Rawalpindi that the military operation in Lower Dir, which started on April 26, had been completed. "The operation in Dir has successfully been completed, during which 70 to 75 militants were killed," he said. Ten personnel of the Security Forces were also killed during the operation. He said over 300 militants had started entering Lower Dir on April 2 and 3. Despite warning from the Government officials, they did not stop their unlawful activities, he added. "They were involved in kidnapping for ransom, killing police and other security officials and other unlawful acts," he said. He also said no foreign militant was found during the Dir operation.

SFs, backed by artillery, gunship helicopters and jet fighters, launched a full-fledged operation against the militants in Buner District of NWFP, targeting their suspected hideouts in different areas, besides placing the whole District under curfew. "Today at 4pm, the FC and military troops launched a joint operation against the militants in Buner," the Inter-Services Public Relations Director General Major General Athar Abbas said at a press briefing in Islamabad. He said FC Inspector General Major General Tariq Khan is commanding the operation. Nearly 300 Taliban entered Buner from April 2 to 4 and began to terrorise the locals, in violation of the Swat deal, Gen Abbas said. "The government warned the militants but they refused to listen and staged only a symbolic withdrawal. They government was left with no option expect to use force," he said. According to several news agencies, he said it would take up to a week to clear an estimated 500 Taliban militants from Buner. The militants, on the other hand, blew up a bridge, a Police post in Ambaila and occupied the Paacha Police Station, sources said.

Militants in Swat warned media personnel of dire consequences if they did not ‘mend their ways’. According to a private TV channel, pamphlets sent to the offices of newspapers and TV channels asked them to review their role and avoid following "an anti-Taliban agenda". It was signed by the ‘commander’ of the Fidayeen (suicide squad) section of the TTP. The pamphlets accused the media of following a new trend over the past week which showed that "everybody is following a pro-western policy under pressure or for greed". The Taliban also warned that they would move the Sharia (Islamic law) courts if the media did not follow their instructions.

The NWFP Government is all set to establish the Darul Qaza appeals court in Malakand and appoint Qazis in the area, Provincial Information Minister Mian Iftikhar Hussain said, inviting the TNSM chief Maulana Sufi Muhammad for talks to implement the Nizam-e-Adl Regulation 2009.

April 29

Troops took control of the main Daggar town, headquarters of the Buner District after being dropped by helicopter behind Taliban lines, killing over 50 Taliban militants in two days of fighting, the military said. Troops were operating on three axis – Ambaila, Malandar and Karakar – military spokesman Major General Athar Abbas told reporters in Rawalpindi. "Two high-value targets — Maulvi Shahid and Qari Quresh — are among the 50 militants killed so far in Buner when gunship helicopters targeted militants’ positions during the operation launched on Tuesday afternoon," Abbas stated. "The security forces are facing stiff resistance, particularly around Ambaila heights," a key gateway to the mountainous region where the Taliban detonated three roadside bombs, he said. One soldier had been killed in the operation and three were injured. "The airborne forces have linked up to police and Frontier Constabulary in Daggar," the spokesman said. The Army spokesman informed the media that Daggar has been cleared of the militants while Sultanwala, Nawagai and Pir Baba Ziarat are still in the militants’ control.

Gen Abbas also said the soldiers had freed 18 of some 70 police and militiamen kidnapped by the Taliban on April 28. However, BBC Urdu reported that the Taliban had freed the hostages at the Pir Baba police station "under a deal" on April 28.

An Arab correspondent of Al Jazeera TV, Abdul Rehman Matar, was injured after his vehicle was caught in crossfire in Daggar. Abbas said Taliban were getting weapons and assistance through the Afghan border.

The military estimated some 500 militants were in the Buner Valley and that it might take a week to clear them out. Jet fighters and helicopter gunships provided air support for army and paramilitary troops leading the offensive.

Artillery fire on suspected Taliban hideouts continued in the Maidan area of Lower Dir District, despite an announcement by the military that the operation had been completed. SFs set up a new check-post in Rehanpur village, and army troops were positioned on the Zulam Bridge linking Lower Dir with the Bajaur Agency in FATA. The Amnesty International estimated that at least 33,000 civilians have fled their homes in Lower Dir.

Suspected militants blew up about 25 shops at Adezai bazaar in the suburb of Peshawar. A Police official of the Matani Police station said unidentified miscreants had planted explosives which went off at about 1am. Many of the shops were owned by one Mohammad Kalam. However, chief of the local Union Council, Haji Asad Khan, said the shops were owned by poor people who were selling items of daily use. In the past, he said, people used to sell CDs and cassettes in different areas but after threats by the Taliban they had abandoned the business.

Police defused explosives which were planted near the main gate of the Peshawar High Court. Police officials said the explosives weighed about two kilograms and were packed in a plastic bottle. Detonator, cable and batteries were also recovered from the site.

April 30

The ISPR Director-General Major General Athar Abbas said that 24 militants had been killed so far in the military operation in Buner and SFs had cleared the District headquarters Daggar of the militants. Addressing a press conference in Islamabad, he said due to the successful operation, launched jointly by the FC and Pakistan Army, life was returning to normalcy in Lower Dir. He also said the number of casualties might increase in Buner and Lower Dir. Abbas added that the militants were still holding positions at Sultanwas and Pir Baba.

He said the militants attacked SFs’ post in the Jawari Pass area and in the retaliatory action four militants were killed, while the rest fled from the scene. During the crossfire, one FC trooper sustained injuries, he said. Further, militants blew up a camp of the Frontier Constabulary and took away weapons, while jets and helicopters continued heavy bombing on their suspected positions in different parts of Buner District. However, no casualty among militants was reported in the attacks by helicopter gunships. Major General Abbas said the Government and SFs had been exercising maximum restraint despite clear violations of peace deal by the Taliban in Swat. He claimed the Taliban were carrying out patrolling, setting up check-posts, kidnapping for ransom and killing and damaging private properties, violating the peace deal.

A roadside bomb blast in the Kohat District killed a Shia man and wounded six others traveling in a mini-bus in an apparent sectarian attack. "Seven people were injured in the bomb blast," local Police official Shafiq Khan said. "It appears to be a sectarian attack as all the passengers in the van were Shias," he said, adding the blast was caused by a crude, makeshift device.

May 01

SFs have killed approximately 60 Taliban militants in the Buner District over the last 24 hours as helicopter gunships continued shelling suspected hideouts, with almost 400 militants putting up a fierce resistance to the military operations. According to the ISPR spokesman, Major General Athar Abbas, "Nearly 55 to 60 Taliban have been killed over the last 24 hours in the Buner operation." He informed the media that two Frontier Corps personnel had also been killed and eight injured in the operation, which entered its fourth day on May 1. Abbas said the troops were killed when a suicide bomber blew up a booby-trapped house.

The military spokesman said the resistance the Taliban had put up and their weapons – assault rifles, anti-aircraft missiles and mortars – showed they had come to Buner with the intention to stay. He said locals had confirmed that foreigners were also present in Buner and fighting the SFs along with the Taliban. Abbas said the SFs had foiled Taliban plans to target the troops in suicide attacks. He claimed that one would-be suicide bomber had also been arrested, after he attempted to blow himself up. He also said ground troops backed by helicopter gunships destroyed nine suicide vehicles and six vehicles of ‘fleeing Taliban’. Three suicide motorcyclists were shot dead by ground troops advancing on narrow mountain tracks, he added.

A curfew remained imposed in Sawari, Ambela, Daggar, Pir Baba, and other areas of Buner throughout the day except for four hours between 2pm to 6pm. Pir Baba, Jor, Gokand, and a few other areas are reportedly still under Taliban control.

SFs killed two Taliban commanders and injured four others in a clash at the Langar check-post in the Khwazakhela sub-division of Swat District. Sources said the militants opened fire on the check-post, leading to a gun-battle in which two Taliban commanders, identified as Nisar and Islam, were killed and four others injured. SFs also recovered a rifle, two hand-grenades and a Kalashnikov from the militants. In addition, gunship helicopters continued shelling the hilly areas of Matta and Peuchar.

May 02

Five Taliban militants, including two key commanders, were killed in fighting with the SFs in the Charbagh revenue division of Swat District. Sources said the troops also seized a car prepared for a suicide attack and arrested three armed Taliban militants.

The Taliban militants lobbed two hand grenades in a house in Upper Dir District, injuring two civilians.

SFs seized control of a key road in the Buner District, the military said. According to the Inter-Services Public Relations, the SFs are removing improvised explosive devices along the Daggar-Mardan road and will open it soon.

In Langer, troops seized 12 military uniforms from a jeep after a gunfight. The clothes were to be used in terrorist activities, the army said. The troops also established check posts to stop Taliban entry into Shangla.

The military said that the Taliban militants attacked a security check post on Khawazakhela Bridge in Swat in violation of the peace deal. The military said that 10 Levies personnel abducted by the Taliban militants in Upper Dir area were released, but the militants took their weapons.

May 03

Brigadier Fayyaz Mehmood Qamar, who is in-charge of military operations in the Buner District, said the operations will be completed within a week. Briefing the media in District headquarters Daggar, he said SFs killed 27 suicide attackers, bringing the death toll of militants to 80. Three SF personnel were also killed in the operation, he added. The Brigadier said SFs faced stiff resistance while entering into Buner, as the presence of militants at the Ambela hills was very thick and suicide bombers, riding on motorcycles and vehicles, were out to target the troops. Militants were still present in Pir Baba and Suleman Bakhsh and a plan had been chalked out to launch operation in this area, he said. The SFs have not initiated any land offensive so far and the entire operation was conducted with the help of artillery and gunship helicopters, he said. Brig Fayyaz said the local militants were very few in strength while Uzbek insurgents were present in large numbers, putting up a stiff resistance. Further, the District Coordination Officer disclosed that about 30-35 suicide bombers were still present in the area.

An Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR) press release stated that consolidation of positions was carried out in Daggar and the surrounding areas. The press release said the dead included a militant commander, Khalil alias Alam Buneri, a main leader of the TTP. SFs also successfully evacuated 20 girls, who were trapped in the Daggar Girls College.

Unidentified gunmen looted three branches of various banks in different areas of Buner. Eyewitnesses said unidentified armed men arrived in pickups and looted a branch of the Allied Bank at Tor Warsak, the United Bank in Jiwar and the Habib Bank’s branch at Bazargai in broad daylight and decamped with the cash, furniture and computers. It wasn’t clear how much money was looted.

Armed Taliban militants blew up the Pakhtangi check-post in Shangla District and fled with the weapons of the Policemen stationed at the post. About 20 militants attacked the checkpoint on the Alpuri Puran main road, took the Policemen hostage, seized their weapons and then reportedly blew up the post with explosives. The locals said the Taliban wanted to abduct the Policemen but they managed to escape.

Taliban militants arrived at the emerald mines in Goch area of Shangla once again, after having ‘disappeared’ for several days. Unnamed officials said Police had emptied an arms storehouse in Alooch Police station after receiving reports that Taliban were planning to attack.

Armed Taliban militants were out on the streets of Mingora town in what the ISPR called a gross violation of the peace deal. "Militants are involved in various criminal activities threatening the lives of the civilian population, the civil administration as well as security forces personnel," it said.

The Taliban blew up a girls’ high school in the Ningolai area of Kabal sub-division. While the building was destroyed, no casualty was reported. Further, a mechanic was arrested from Watakai Chowk when he was preparing a vehicle for a suicide attack. Another vehicle prepared for a suicide attack was on its way to Saidu Sharif when the troops spotted it and later destroyed it after a gunfight. Three Taliban militants were arrested along with a suicide vehicle in Mingora, the ISPR said.

The Taliban attacked a grid station with rockets, destroying the facility and disrupting power supply to Mingora. They also attacked a Police station in Rahimabad. The ensuing gunfight reportedly continued until the next morning. The Taliban also partially destroyed the Chamtalai Bridge in Khawazakhela by a bomb blast. Four militants were reportedly injured in a clash after they attacked the Security Forces in the Sambat Ridge area. Separately, the Taliban abducted the Mingora town municipal officer and his son from Sharifabad. They released the two later but seized their vehicle.

In Madyan, the Taliban fired at the SFs killing one soldier. Three other soldiers were injured in various clashes with the Taliban in Swat.

A civilian was killed as SFs and the Taliban clashed in Madyan. Further, two beheaded bodies were found in the Alam Ganj area of Khwazakhela. Witnesses said both were Frontier Corps troopers. The Taliban also robbed a bank in Chakdara bazaar. Reports said they took away PKR 600,000 from the Habib Bank.

238 Policemen along with 126 soldiers of the Army and 67 personnel of the paramilitary FC have been killed in 1,240 terrorist attacks in the NWFP since January 2004, according to official statistics. In addition, 526 Policemen, 204 FC personnel and 324 soldiers were wounded in these attacks that also killed 806 civilians and injured 1993 others till April 15, 2009. Among those either killed or wounded during these attacks were a number of senior officers of the Frontier Police, the FC and the Army. The senior most of them was Deputy Inspector General Malik Mohammad Saad, who was heading the Peshawar Capital City Police when hit by a suicide bomber on January 27, 2007.

May 04

A suicide car bomber killed four SF personnel and wounded eight persons in the outskirts of Peshawar. Police sources said the attacker rammed his car into a vehicle carrying SFs.

A Policeman died and four people, including another policeman, were injured when suspected Taliban militants opened fire on the Bahadar Banda Police Post on Hangu-Kohat Road in the Hangu District.

Two people were arrested for trying to abduct Hangu passport office director Muhammad Tahir from Samana Road in the Hangu. However, Police arrested the duo and foiled their attempt.

The Swat peace agreement crumbled as Taliban militants took over Mingora, District headquarters of Swat, taking positions atop Government and private buildings and patrolling the deserted streets. "The city is in complete control of the Taliban, who say they are taking positions to guard the local population," Mingora residents said. Local residents said both the SFs and Taliban militants set up checkposts on roads leading to Mingora and soldiers were seen on high alert in Kabal. Military authorities had announced a curfew in the city from 7pm to 6am and had warned violators of stern action.

The Taliban have made about 2,000 civilians in Buner hostage and are using them as human shield, the chief military spokesman said. Major General Athar Abbas told the state-run Pakistan TV that Taliban had made the civilians hostage in Peer Baba and Sultan Was areas and were not allowing them to leave.

Calling the Pakistani Government and Army "enemies of Muslims", the Swat Taliban vowed to march forward till death. "Either we’ll be martyred or we’ll march forward," Taliban spokesman Muslim Khan told. He said elements in the military and the Government were trying to sabotage the peace process to please the United States. "This is not our army, this is not our Government," he added. They’re worse enemies of Muslims than the Americans. They’re US stooges. "We will give a fitting reply to security forces if Sufi Muhammad decides to revoke the deal with the Government," he said while talking.

A TNSM spokesman said that establishing peace was the responsibility of the Government and not the TNSM. Talking to reporters in Batkhela, he said the TNSM would only be responsible for peace if Sharia was enforced in the Malakand Division. He called for an end to the military action against the Taliban in parts of the division and said peace could not be restored by force and could only come through "the enforcement of sharia". He also claimed the NWFP Government had not consulted the TNSM on the appointment of qazis.

The NWFP Government will not tolerate any violation of the Swat peace agreement any longer, provincial Information Minister Iftikhar Hussain said. Talking to reporters, he said the Government had demonstrated full sincerity in the promulgation of the Nizam-e-Adl Regulation and had announced the establishment of Darul Qaza to fulfill the demands of TNSM chief Maulana Sufi Muhammad and the Taliban for peace in Malakand. However he warned of stern action and "the use of the second option" against anyone who would challenge the writ of the state. The minister asked the Taliban to lay down weapons and support the Government in its peace initiatives, and told them the Government would not tolerate any violation of the agreement in future after the implementation of Nizam-e-Adl.

May 05

During clashes between the SFs and militants in the Swat District, at least 18 persons, including three militants and two SF personnel, were killed and 20 others sustained injuries. Sources said clashes were going on in Mingora city, Khwazakhela, Barikot and Shamozai areas, while heavy shelling was witnessed in Qambar area. The shelling and firing continued overnight in which scores of houses were destroyed. Militants also attacked the DIG of Police’s office, Commissioner Office, Police station and museum in Saidu Sharif and captured the DIG office.

While talking to reporters, Taliban spokesman Muslim Khan claimed militants were in control of ‘90 per cent’ of the valley and said their actions were in response to "Army violations of the peace deal." The NWFP Government, however, accused the Taliban of not honouring their commitments under the peace deal despite the announcement of Darul Qaza in the Malakand Division.

SFs continued shelling the militant hideouts, while militants fired rockets and mortar shells at the commissioner house, grid station, circuit house, Police station and Police posts in Mingora city, Barikot and Shamozai areas in which over a dozen of people were killed. Two SF personnel were also injured in clashes with militants. According to the Swat Media Centre, a number of militants were killed during fighting with the SFs. Huge explosions were heard during the night in Mingora where militants also attacked office of the DIG, Police Station at Saidu Sharif and museum with rockets and later occupied the DIG office, which had already been vacated by the officials. Sub-Inspector Syed Ail Shah was killed during the clash. Further, fierce fighting between the two sides was reported from the Frontier Constabulary camp in Mingora. Electricity had been suspended in most of the areas of Swat after militants attacked the grid station.

An Inter-Services Public Relations statement said militants in Swat blew up a Police station and fired rockets at posts of SFs at Shangla Top, Shamzoi Bridge, Bariam bridge and grid station in Mingora. Militants also looted a store of the World Food Programme in Swat and took away bags of wheat and cans of edible oil, the statement said. The militants have occupied important Government offices, including that of the Commissioner Malakand Division, DIG, Frontier Reserve Police, district nazim and Police investigation offices, in Saidu Sharif. The NWFP Minister for Information Mian Iftikhar Hussain while confirming the militants’ control over the commissioner and DIG offices, expressed ignorance about other offices.

There was a panic among the people when the District Coordination Officer (DCO) Khushal Khan directed the residents of Mingora city, Amankot, Makanbagh, Qambar and Rahimabad areas to leave for safer places when the curfew was relaxed for five hours. Approximately 40,000 people fled the areas soon after the directives of the DCO. The NWFP Information Minister said up to 500,000 people were expected to flee the Swat valley.

Seven people, including two children and a Frontier Corps soldier, were killed and 48 others sustained injuries an explosives-laden car rammed into a pick-up near a check-post on the Bara road near Peshawar. The Bara Qadeem check-post was manned by the Police and Frontier Constabulary. Eyewitnesses said the car on a suicide mission was following a Frontier Corps pick-up from Bara and hit it when it slowed down near the check-post. The pick-up was carrying students to a school in Peshawar. The Senior Superintendent of Police Mian Ghulam Mohammad said no one had accepted responsibility for the blast. According to bomb disposal personnel, the explosives weighed about 85 kilograms. The blast also reportedly caused a deep crater in the middle of the road and damaged dozens of houses and shops.

The banned TTP has allegedly warned doctors of the public sector hospitals in Peshawar, the NWFP capital, to stop wearing shirts and trousers or face suicide bombing. A senior doctor at the Lady Reading Hospital told they had received a letter from the TTP, asking doctors and all other medical staff to immediately stop wearing shirts and trousers or suicide bombers would target them at their institutions. Two other senior doctors at the Hayatabad Medical Complex and the Khyber Teaching Hospital also confirmed receiving similar threats from the TTP. The NWFP Secretary for Health, Dr Sohail Altaf, confirmed the threatening letters that were received by the hospital executives from unknown people. He said he too had received a copy of the letter, adding that he did not believe the Taliban would have sent the letter.

May 06

In a bid to recapture the Government buildings seized by the Taliban, SFs targeted militants’ strongholds with gunship helicopters and artillery, killing 60 militants. In the daylong fighting across the Swat District, 40 civilians and two FC soldiers were also killed.

The main clash occurred in Shahdarra where gunship helicopters targeted the militants, who had captured the emerald mine, killing 35 of them and forcing the survivors to leave the mine. SFs also targeted the Takhtaband stronghold of the Taliban, killing 15 militants and injuring scores of others. The militants attacked a convoy of the SFs in Kanju, killing one FC trooper and injuring two others. In the subsequent retaliation by the FC, 10 militants were killed. Similarly, another FC convoy was hit by an improvised explosive device, killing one soldier and injuring two others. Seven persons, including five SF personnel, were killed and nine others injured in different incidents in Batkhela. Approximately 60 persons also sustained injuries in clashes between the two sides in different areas of Swat. SFs targeted suspected militant positions in many areas, including Malokabad, Shahdarra, Rung Mohallah, Rajabad, Zamrud Mine, Qazi Baba, Watkai, Naway Killay, Ingoro Dherai, Takhtaband, Balogram and Qambar.

The militants are reported to have descended from their mountain hideouts and seized homes and Government buildings. They also looted four branches of banks, including the MCB Saidu Sharif branch and main bazaar Mingora city branches of the UBL, NBP and HBL. The militants were also seen patrolling the streets of the main town of Mingora. Taliban militants who came down from the mountains late on May 5 were still occupying the homes of local residents and are in possession of many strategic points.

The Taliban have planted countless landmines and explosive devices around the populated areas of Swat to stop the people from leaving their homes and for using women and children as human shields against the military operation, a federal cabinet meeting was told. However, sources close to the Taliban denied mining of the area. They said those charging the Taliban with such inhuman acts may themselves have made such plans. They said the Taliban could not think of using civilians as human shields.

Taliban spokesman Muslim Khan told Al Jazeera that they are in control of "90 percent" of the Swat valley. Blaming the breakdown of the Swat peace deal on the Pakistani military, Khan said the peace accord with the Government in Swat was over.

22 militants were killed after the paramilitary forces raided Elahi village in the Buner District. "The FC conducted a raid in the village of Elahi, located west of Daggar, killing 22 militants," the FC said in a statement. "Reportedly, 50 militants were looting the villagers and on receiving this information, a force was sent to control them. After a stiff encounter, 22 militants were killed and the rest of them ran away," the FC stated. The death toll, however, could not be independently confirmed due to the ongoing military operation.

Reports from the District headquarters Daggar indicated that four bodies of civilians, including a woman, were recovered from two different areas. Sources said the beheaded body of a man identified as Habib Khan, a resident of Elahi, was found dumped in the Jawar Chawa area. Some unidentified miscreants had killed him and left a letter beside his body, stating that he was a traitor. In addition, three bodies of unidentified civilians, including a woman, were recovered from roadside in the Elay village.

Heavy firing occurred in Elay village between the militants and SFs, but there was no report of casualties.

14 worshippers were wounded when unidentified motorcyclists lobbed a hand grenade at a mosque in Dera Ismail Khan. Sources said two unidentified men, riding a motorcycle, arrived at the Chichyan Mosque in the Kaneriyanwali locality and hurled the hand grenade when the people were offering ‘Isha’ prayers. "At least, 14 people were injured in the attack," an eyewitness said.

May 07

Jet fighters and helicopter gunships targeted Taliban hideouts and centres in various parts of the Swat and Lower Dir Districts, killing 60 Taliban militants. "We have carried out air strikes on known centres of militants killing around 60 [Taliban] in Swat and Lower Dir," chief military spokesman Major General Athar Abbas told.

Military sources said 12 militants were killed in the Shamoozai area of Swat, eight others in Malam Jaba and 14 militants were killed in Matta, Shahdheri and Kooza Cheena. Taliban commander Ibne Aqil was also reported killed in a counter-attack by the Police when the Taliban attacked Matta Police station. "In 24 hours, we lost nine soldiers and about 10 of them [were] injured," General Abbas told. Seven of the soldiers were killed when Taliban ambushed a convoy at the entrance to Mingora. Two soldiers were killed in the valley north of Matta," said the military spokesman.

In Lower Dir, District administration officials said the Taliban abducted 11 paramilitary troops after attacking the Malakand Levies Fort in Chakdara. They said three soldiers had been killed in the attack.

The SF killed a son of the TNSM chief Maulana Sufi Muhammad in a clash with the Taliban in Lower Dir District, the Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR) said in a statement. During an exchange of fire, 10 militants, including Kifayatullah – son of Sufi Muhammad – was killed, it said. The TNSM spokesman Amir Izzat Khan said the 43-year-old was killed in helicopter gunship firing in Maidan area. "In an attempt to eliminate and flush out [Taliban] from the area, FC [Frontier Corps] launched an attack in early morning today… During exchange of fire, 10 [Taliban] were killed including Kifayatullah, son of Sufi Muhammad," the ISPR said.

Five members of a local armed Lashkar (militia) were killed and six others injured when militants opened fire at them in the Siyalo Talab area of Hangu District. Sources said a person identified as Saifullah was abducted by the militants and armed villagers of Manjikhel tribe chased the kidnappers. An exchange of fire took place in Siyalo Talab area, leaving five men dead and six others injured. Sources said the clash between the militants and armed Lashkar continued for three hours in which four vehicles were also destroyed.

Taliban militants blew up a high school in Darra Adam Khel. According to a private TV channel, militants had planted explosives in a Government high school in the Bosti Khel area in Darra Adam Khel. While the blast damaged the building, no loss of life was reported.

May 08

The SFs killed more than 140 Taliban militants as the military operation continued in the Swat valley of NWFP. 13 of them were killed in a major gun battle at Matta Police station. Seven soldiers were also killed as the SFs took control of Khawazakhela and Chamtalai, ISPR Director General Maj Gen Athar Abbas said in a media briefing. He said military had launched a "full-scale operation" in Swat and the Taliban militants were on the run. He said the Taliban militants were trying to block an exodus of civilians through coercion, taking hostages, bombings and blocking roads with trees. According to Reuters, he said there were 4,000 to 5,000 Taliban militants in Swat, including Uzbeks and Tajiks. On May 8, troops targeted Taliban mountaintop training camps, ammunition dumps and command and communication centres in precision strikes. "Special care has been taken to strike identified targets and those targets which are away from populated areas," he added.

10 Taliban militants were killed in attacks in Takhtaband, Qambar Top and the house of a local lawyer. Another 10 were killed in an attack by helicopter gunship in Kabal. Five Taliban militants, including Commander Akbar Ali were killed in Kanju. The ISPR Director General said the Taliban militants killed the brother of Khawazakhela union council nazim and abducted two Policemen from SorBridge in Khawazakhela. They also fired six rockets at the Circuit House in Mingora, killing a soldier. The ISPR said the Taliban resistance in Buner had been reduced considerably, but they were maintaining positions at Sultanwas and Pir Baba. A search and cordon operation continued in Lower Dir. 15 Taliban militants were killed in an attack on a Taliban compound in Maidan, General Abbas said, adding that they included two key commanders.

Four people were killed and several others injured when a rocket fired from an unidentified location hit an Afghan refugee camp in the Jangal Khel area of Darra Adam Khel. Four people, including two women and a child were killed when the rocket hit a house at the Afghan Refugee Camp number two. Three children were also seriously wounded.

An operation was launched against the Taliban militants in the Shen Dhand, Tor Chappar, Sunni Khel, Bosti Khel and Akhorwal areas of Darra Adam Khel.

May 09

SFs killed 55 Taliban militants in various areas of Swat in NWFP, while 14 Taliban were killed in Lower Dir District after gunship helicopters targeted Maidan area. "We have hit certain militant positions in Mingora with helicopter gunships," said military spokesman Major General Athar Abbas. "The Taliban were harassing the civil population and intensely involved in various activities of looting and arson in the city of Mingora and, in an early morning attack, helicopters engaged militant hideouts and reportedly left 15 militants dead," Abbas added.

SFs also targeted suspected Taliban positions at Rama Kandhao ridge in Matta tehsil (revenue division) and destroyed the main headquarters of the Taliban there, a military statement added. "Reportedly, 30 to 40 militants have been killed," it added. Indiscriminate mortar fire by the Taliban militants in Mingora had caused civilian casualties, it said but no details were provided. A Taliban source confirmed heavy bombardment of the Taliban positions by jet planes and helicopters.

Five suspected terrorists were killed and a Policeman injured during an encounter at Baghbanan Road in Peshawar. According to a statement, Police arrested three suspected terrorists in the limits of Chamkani Police Station during a routine search. It said four more suspected terrorists ambushed the Police when the suspects were being shifted to a Police post. They killed the three suspects in Police custody, while two of the attackers were also killed in the encounter, the statement added. Three of the dead have been identified as Arab Shah, Abdul Akbar and Musarrat Shah, all residents of Afghanistan.

Unidentified men fired three rockets at the Peshawar International Airport from undisclosed locations, but no casualties were reported.

May 10

SFs said they had killed up to 200 Taliban militants in 24 hours during the on-going operation in Swat even as they secured the Shangla top and important towns and ridges in the Dir and Buner Districts. Troops engaged the Taliban in their Peochar headquarters and at hideouts in Kanju, Mingora, Banai Baba, Namal, Qambar, Fizagath, Tiligram and Chamtalai, the Inter-Services Public Relations said in an update. The Inter-Services Public Relations claimed that 140-150 militants were killed in an attack on the Banai Baba training camp in Shangla and 50-60 militants were killed in different areas of Swat valley.

The SFs secured Shangla top advancing up to Biladram town, encountering improvised roadside bombs and fierce Taliban resistance on Chamtalai bridge. The troops resumed operation from Point 2245 and Point 2266 heights captured on May 9, and advanced up to Shalwal Kandao, where one soldier was killed. The SFs also destroyed a Taliban training camp at Banai Baba in Shangla, where up to 150 militants were confirmed dead.

The Taliban’s indiscriminate mortar fire and roadside bombs planted in populated areas killed an unspecified number of civilians. The Taliban also blew up two schools at Barikot and Maniar, and killed a local prayer leader, Zahid Khan, at Nishat Chowk.

In Dir, troops secured Kala Dag and advanced up to Haya Sarai and continued to secure positions on Gulabad heights. The Taliban is reported to have abducted a TV reporter from Chakdara in Dir.

Helicopter gunships fired at Taliban hideouts in Barwada Char in Buner, and two Taliban ammunition dumps were destroyed. Troops also secured key ridges around Sultanwas in Buner, surrounding the Taliban.

Three civilians were killed in strafing by gunship helicopters and a paramilitary soldier was shot dead by militants in the Malakand.

Reports from Timergara added that SFs claimed to have secured areas from Kaladag to Hayaserai and killed five militants in an operation in the Maidan area of Lower Dir District. Other sources put the number of militants’ casualties at 10. One soldier also sustained injuries in the operation. Major Qilla, considered to be one of the strongholds and defence line of militants, was also captured.

Suspected militants attacked the post of Levies Force at Palai area in Malakand, killing one soldier. They also kidnapped three other soldiers. Residents of Palai area told that about four vehicles comprising Taliban militants came to Palai and surrounded a check-post. Muhammad Ayaz Bacha said the heavily-armed militants first opened fire on the post killing a Levies soldier, and then abducted three others. The Taliban retained control of Palai area for about 14 hours and blocked the roads linking the town to Mardan and Dargai.

SFs claimed to have killed 52 militants in the Swat District during the last 24 hours, while 31 persons, including three civilians, were killed in Lower Dir District. Three soldiers were also killed and 14 others wounded in Swat. In addition, seven bodies, including one of a prayer leader at a mosque, were found in different towns of Swat valley.

The ISPR said SFs shelled suspected positions of the militants in the Kabal, Tutano Bandai, Deda Khura, Peuchar, Sarband and Matta areas of Swat, killing 30 militants. Locals said that Shagai, Panr and emerald mines were also shelled. However, it could not be confirmed whether there were casualties in these attacks. SFs also targeted militant hideouts in Peuchar, the Taliban headquarters in Matta sub-division, and Mingora killing 11 militants. At Ayub Bridge, the ISPR claimed troops killed seven militants. It said militants had a tunnel and hideouts in Qambar Ridge which were targeted by helicopters, resulting in the killing of three militants, besides injuring five others. Further, a militant was killed in Chamtalai when he was planting an improvised explosive device. The ISPR added that the SFs killed 52 militants in the ongoing operation in the last 24 hours. However, this claim could not be confirmed from independent sources.

During clashes, the SFs also suffered casualties. Three soldiers were killed and several others injured in Benai Baba Ziarat when the troops were clearing the area. The advancing troops are reportedly facing fierce encounters with militants, military sources said. However, Banai Baba has now been secured, the ISPR said. The troops also cleared the route up to Khwazakhela. Separately, in an attack on Kanju Fort, five SF personnel were wounded while two were injured in the firing on Circuit House, the SFs headquarters in Mingora for Rah-e-Haq-II operation. Militants also fired mortar shells at the Mingora Police station, injuring four soldiers. They also demolished the Government Primary School for Boys at Fazalabad.

Seven bodies were found in different towns. While four bodies were recovered from the Alamganj area of Khwazakhela sub-division, a corpse found in Charbagh was believed to be that of a prayer leader. A Police official Anwar Ali, kidnapped a few days back, was also killed and his body was thrown in Naway Killay. A beheaded body was found near Palwasha Cinema.

Construction work on the Lowari Tunnel Project, connecting Chitral with rest of the country, was suspended and foreign engineers and consultants moved to Islamabad due to the deteriorating security situation and persistent curfew that hindered construction activities.

Reports from Timergara indicated that approximately 31 persons, including three civilians, were killed in Lower Dir District in the ongoing military operations. Local sources said seven bodies of militants were found in one house and four in another in the Hayaserai area of Maidan. They said that nine bodies of suspected Taliban militants were lying in Badwa primary school while eight corpses were found on Warsak road. The sources said three civilians were killed and eight others injured in Chakdara area. Two persons were killed when a vegetable-laden vehicle was targeted. Another person identified as Sohail was killed when a mortar shell landed on his house in the same area. Eight persons were wounded when a shell hit a vehicle of the Al-Khidmat Foundation in Chakdara.

11 people were killed and 13 others injured in a suicide attack on a camp of the FC in the Spina Thana area of Darra Adamkhel. The banned TTP, Darra Adamkhel chapter, claimed responsibility for the attack, saying more suicide attacks would be carried out if the military operation was not stopped in Swat and other parts of the country. Authorities confirmed the killing of nine people, including an FC soldier and a child. Apart from the Frontier Constabulary, the Frontier Corps is also stationed at the camp to jointly curb militancy in the area. Those injured included an FC soldier and five members of a family. 12 shops, a car, a coach and two trailers were also destroyed in the blast. Eyewitnesses said a white double-cabin pick-up narrowly missed the FC camp and went off at the entrance of the military establishment. They said the explosives-laden vehicle was being driven by a young man. Police said around 200 kilograms of explosive material was laden in the car. Spina Thana is located between Matani village of Peshawar and the gun-manufacturing town of Darra Adamkhel.

Reports from Mingora and Peshawar quoting FC sources said the SFs killed 13 militants in the Torwarsak area of Buner District while there were reports about the killing of 37 Taliban militants in an assault in the Gulabad area of Dir Lower District and four others in Swat. Six bodies were found in parts of Swat Valley while a person was shot dead in Kanju. The SFs said four militants were killed in a clash triggered by Taliban's firing at Mamdherai. Further, six beheaded bodies of unidentified persons were recovered from Suhrab Khan Chowk, Peopleís Chowk, Rahimabad, Landikas and Green Chowk. Arshad Kanju, resident of Kanju, was shot dead by unidentified gunmen.

Fierce clashes between militants and the SFs were reported from Gulabad and Chakdara towns of Dir Lower. Sources said 37 militants were killed in an attack on Government Degree College Gulabad, which was occupied by militants. Sources said that 17 bodies were recovered from the building, damaged in clashes. One soldier was also reported to have been killed in the clashes. Nine militants, including a commander, were arrested in Chakdara and Gulabad.

The Pakistan Army dropped helicopter-borne troops, including commandos, in the stronghold of militants' chief Maulana Fazlullah to conduct a search operation, while SFs made significant achievements in the operation named as Rah-e-Haq 4. "The troops have landed in the Peochar Valley in the north of Swat to accomplish the task assigned to them," military spokesman Major-General Athar Abbas said at a press briefing in Islamabad.

General Abbas said SFs in Swat, Shangla, Dir Lower and Buner Districts had achieved considerable successes and, so far, 751 militants and 29 SF personnel had been killed in the ongoing operation while 77 soldiers sustained injuries. "The operation was progressing smoothly, the militants were on the run and the criminal elements, which had earlier joined the Taliban militants in Swat, were deserting them along with new recruits," he added. He said during the operation, measures had been taken to avoid collateral damage and only confirmed hideouts and strongholds in the valleys and on the mountains had been targeted from air.

The militants' strongholds in Mingora, Peochar, Kabal, Khwazakhela and Shangla have been targeted successfully. Banni Baba Ziarat training camp of the militants has been destroyed, reportedly killing 200 militants. Since the start of the operation in Swat, 18 SF personnel were killed and 47 others injured. A cordon and search operation continues in Banni Baba Ziarat, where the militants have suffered heavily and 11 soldiers were injured in the last 24 hours. About Dir, he said the operation was still in progress in some areas and exchange of fire was continuing. In Buner, consolidation around Daggar continues and Sultanwas area has been surrounded by SFs, said Abbas. He said there were plans to kill high value targets, adding, some of the high value targets had already been killed in the operation. He said a timeframe for the completion of operation in Swat could not be given at the moment, but it was effort of the Government and the Army to bring the operation to an early end.

The military spokesman also said a corps headquarters had been designated as Special Support Group for the management of the Internally Displaced Persons (IDPs). He said Corps Commander Mangla, Lt-Gen Nadeem Ahmed, has been designated as the officer in charge of the group in view of his vast experience as the deputy chairman Earthquake Reconstruction and Rehabilitation Authority. Special Task Group representative Brigadier Amir said the number of IDPs, including the old IDPs from Bajaur, was close to 1.3 million. He ruled out terrorists reaching camps in the garb of IDPs, saying a screening process had been put in place to avert such a possibility.

The military on May 12 said that SFs had suffered 29 casualties and inflicted 751 casualties in operations in Swat, Buner and Dir Lower so far.

11 militants and four SF personnel were killed in clashes in the Swat District as troops dropped from the helicopters gained a toehold in Peuchar, the Taliban headquarters. In addition, five beheaded bodies were found in and around the Mingora city. Further, there were reports of 24 casualties, including 18 militants, in Lower Dir District. The Swat Media Centre (SMC) said 11 militants, including 'commander' Naseebur Rahman, were killed in the ongoing military operation against Maulana Fazlullah-led militants in Swat. The SMC said four soldiers were also killed and 12 others sustained injuries during operations in the last 24 hours.

SFs were heavily targeting the mountainous hideouts and strongholds of the militants in various towns, including Mingora, from gunship helicopters and fighter planes, besides artillery guns. The SMC said troops had gained a foothold in Peuchar from where they targeted the hideouts of the militants. Forces also consolidated their positions in Banai Baba Ziarat and Brem Bridge. They reportedly cleared the area from Khwazakhela to Brem Bridge besides Chakdara-Gulabad road. A soldier was killed in the area in firing by the militants. Separately, a mortar shell allegedly fired by SFs hit a house, killing Saidur Rehman, his mother and a child. While five beheaded bodies were found in and around the Mingora city, seven persons were killed on May 12 in separate incidents of violence.

Though there was no official account, local sources reported the killing of 24 people, including six civilians. They said an attack on a veterinary dispensary in the Kethiari area of Adenzai left 12 militants dead. In Tandodag and Berarai areas, there were reports about the killing of six militants and as many civilians.

Normalcy is reportedly returning to Buner district where people have started harvesting their crops, the SMC said, adding that shops had also been opened. It said that steps were being taken to clear the Sultanwas area.

Yahya Mustafa Kamran alias Hijrat, an Afghan national and Taliban commander based in the Jamrud sub-division of Khyber Agency, was killed along with four other militants in an encounter with the SF personnel near Peshawar, capital of NWFP, about three days ago. He had been arrested three months ago by Pakistani security agencies for leading a series of attacks on NATO supplies. He was associated with the Baitullah Mehsud-led TTP and was one of his loyal commanders. Baitullah had appointed him commander for the strategic Peshawar-Torkham Road, and tasked him to disrupt and destroy the NATO supply line to neighbouring Afghanistan.

Eight trailers were torched when militants attacked two parking lots, which were once used for transporting supplies for the NATO forces in Afghanistan, while two check-posts were also attacked with missiles. Police officials said around 40 people attacked the Khatoot-e-Aman Terminal and the Javed Bilal Terminal on the Ring Road in the jurisdiction of Pishtakhara Police station at around 3:45 am. A source said the attackers first fired a rocket at the parked vehicles and later set ablaze eight of them. The attackers also assaulted the watchmen and drivers and deprived them of their cash and valuables. An encounter took place between the miscreants and Police when contingents rushed to the area. The assailants, however, managed to escape from the incident site.

Miscreants fired four missiles at the Arbab Tapu check-post in Matani and Spina Thana security post in Darra Adamkhel early. However, no loss of life or injuries was reported.

60 Taliban militants and nine soldiers were killed during the ongoing military operation in Swat District. Military spokesman Major General Athar Abbas confirmed 54 Taliban deaths in a daily briefing, and said the military was taking "extra-ordinary measures to avoid collateral damage". He said the army destroyed at least 15 Taliban hideouts in the Ramotai Loe area of Shangla District. Abbas said Security Forces in Barikot removed roadside bombs and eliminated the remaining Taliban resistance to clear areas up to Udigram, six kilometers short of Mingora, the main town in Swat. While 13 militants were killed in the Tursak suburb of Mingora, three of the, including a key commander, were killed during clashes in Udigram. Further, Frontier Corps sources said 30 Taliban militants were killed in Kalpani and 20 more were killed in the Hayasarae area of Lower Dir District when troops destroyed the house of a local administration official that the Taliban had occupied. In addition, intense fighting was reported from Shalpalam and Sultanwas, the Taliban stronghold in Buner District.

The Chief of Army Staff, General Ashfaq Parvez Kayani, visited Swat valley and vowed to flush out militancy from the area. Gen Kayani visited Swat and met field commanders and troops taking part in the operation. Appreciating the high morale of the troops, he reiterated the Army's resolve to flush out militancy from Swat and defeat the militants.

Nine militants were killed and 12 others arrested in a search operation carried out by the SFs in the Mulakhel area of Darra Adamkhel, which was launched after the militants blew up a school in Akhorwal area. Sources said unidentified militants had planted explosive devices in the Government High School for Boys at Akhorwal, which went off at 5:00 am, destroying four rooms of the school. Consequently, SFs launched a search operation in the Mulakhel, Sanikhel, Akhorwal and Bustikhel areas, killing nine militants were killed and arresting 12 others. They also targeted militants' hideouts in the Spina Thana area with gunship choppers and artillery. The militants also fired four rockets on Spina Thana. However, no casualty was reported in the attack.

Eight Policemen were injured when terrorists on motorbikes attacked three Police posts in Dera Ismail Khan with hand-grenades. Police said the attacks carried out in a span of half an hour, partially damaged the posts. The first attack took place after evening prayers when a hand-grenade was hurled on a Rescue 15 post in Topawala Square on the Circular Road, injuring six Policemen. About 15 minutes later, Police Post No 3 at Tank Adda was attacked and two constables were injured. The third attack was on Police Post No 4 at Muslim Bazaar.

While asking the internally displaced people (IDPs) to help identify the fleeing militants, SFs claimed to have killed 55 militants in the Swat and Buner Districts during the ongoing military operation against the Taliban. SFs conceded three casualties besides injuries to 11 soldiers. The SFs also claimed to have gained success in their actions in different areas of the valley, but the areas were not specified. The ISPR said SFs had credible reports that the Taliban militants had shaved off their beards and trimmed hair to escape action. It said these militants were fleeing the Swat Valley in the guise of civilians. It asked the people to help identify the fleeing militants to SFs.

In Peuchar, the Taliban attacked a SFs' check-post, which was retaliated and 13 militants were killed while one of their vehicles destroyed, the ISPR said in a statement. The troops had successfully been linked up in Odigram, where the Police force joined the Army troops. Between Matta town and Bar Bamakhel, SFs have reportedly succeeded in establishing several check-posts to strengthen their positions. The ISPR said troops have cleared Giga and Jura areas and reached northwest of Matta. During their advance towards village Adai, the SFs destroyed two compounds of the militants. In Sultanwas, where the Taliban were reported to have established their headquarters after gaining control of Buner District, SFs launched action against the militants, who fired heavy weapons on soldiers. One soldier was killed and three others injured in the firing. The SFs, in their action in Sultanwas and Kalpanai, killed 42 militants and claimed destroying 15 vehicles of the Taliban. SFs also arrested an important Taliban commander, Dawa Noor, who was involved in terrorist activities in Sultanwas and Daggar in Buner District. A member of the banned TNSM, Dawa Noor, instigated the civil population of the area against SFs on the FM radio and loudspeaker on a jeep. He is reported to have played a key role in facilitating taking over of Buner by the Taliban.

47 Taliban militants were killed in various areas of Malkand Division during the last 24 hours, said the ISPR spokesman Major General Athar Abbas. Claiming significant achievements in the ongoing military operation against Taliban militants in the Malakand Division he confirmed the presence of hardcore foreign militants fighting alongside the Taliban against Security Forces, adding, some 'key' foreign intelligence agencies were also involved in the insurgency. He also said that there were around 4,000 fighters in Swat, at least 10 percent of whom were not locals.

11 people, including two women and two children, were killed and 31 others were wounded when a powerful car bomb ripped through a congested locality in the provincial capital Peshawar. Superintendent of Police (City) Ijaz Abid said the explosion was caused by a timed bomb in a car parked in the Kashkal area of the city. He said the apparent target of the blast was a nearby internet café. The bomb exploded at around 2:20pm and destroyed 17 cars and around a dozen shops. Casualties from a special children's school bus passing the area and caught in the explosion could not be confirmed.

Six people, including two women and two children, sustained minor injuries when a low-intensity explosive device went off in a busy market in Peshawar.

As troops closed in on militants in the Matta sub-division on Swat District, SFs said they had killed 25 militants in the Arkot and Peuchar areas during the last 24 hours. One officer was killed while seven soldiers sustained injuries during the fighting.

A statement from the ISPR said the troops were expanding their foothold in Peuchar, the area which served as the headquarters of Maulana Fazlullah and his fighters. The troops attacked a militant location in the area and secured an important position in the area. Fierce fighting took place for the control of the militant position, which resulted in casualties on either side. The ISPR said during the operation one officer was killed and two soldiers sustained injuries. The militants engaged SFs with rocket launchers and 12-7mm machine guns and in the retaliatory action, troops killed around 20 militants. In the Arkot and Nazarabad areas of Matta, the troops destroyed a compound of the militants from where the SFs faced resistance during their advance. The compound was surrounded and cleared from militants while five militants were killed during the operation. Following fierce fighting, SFs were successful in securing the area between Kanju and Nawan Kallay (Ayub Bridge) and from Ballogram to Takhta Band Bypass. The militants were reportedly putting up resistance on the outskirts of Mingora, the District headquarters of Swat, where intense clashes were reported.

SFs launched an operation against militants in Dir Upper District as warplanes dropped bombs in five villages of the remote Doog Darra area to target suspected hideouts of the militants allegedly led by an Afghan commander. Sources said the strikes killed a child and a woman and injured several people but there was no word about the militants' casualties. Dir Upper became the sixth district of the Malakand Division out of the seven where SFs have launched military action against the Taliban. Chitral is the lone district where there is no military operation at the moment.

Locals said that warplanes launched the first aerial attack in the area at around 4:25 pm and targeted suspected positions of the militants. They said jetfighters carried out two more strikes in Doog Bala, Panaghar, Maluk Khuar, Miana and Shatkas, the five villages of Doog Darra where militants have been present for months. Two mosques, one of them also serving as a seminary, two houses and a health facility reportedly came under attack from the warplanes. There were also reports that the bazaar was also targeted where some shops were damaged. Sources in Dir Upper said the militants, three of them Afghans, were holding a meeting in bazaar but it could not be ascertained whether they were targeted or not. A woman and child were reported killed in the strikes while six others were injured.

Four civilians were killed when a mortar shell landed on a house in Maidan area of Dir Lower District, where SFs have been engaged in operation against the militants. The SFs were consolidating their positions in Chakdara while they cleared the area from Barikot to Tandodag. In the Warjai area of Maidan, four persons of a family were killed when a mortar shell struck the house of Abdullah. He told the media that his mother, wife and two children were killed in the incident.

Two persons were killed when SFs allegedly opened fire on the house of a local lawyer in the Lelonai area of Shangla District. This was the first action by SFs in the area. In addition, 40 militants reached the Chedam area of Chakesar sub-division and occupied a Government school. Sources said armed militants also lifted a vehicle from a basic health unit from Choga area in Puran sub-division.

May 18

27 militants were killed as the SFs started a ground offensive in the Swat District. Three important commanders, including Okasha, Malanga and Riaz, were among 27 militants killed during the operation that has now been named as Rah-e-Rast, military spokesman Major General Athar Abbas informed the media. He said Mamdherai Markaz was targeted by the SFs and 10 to 15 terrorists hiding inside were killed. He also said three SF personnel, including an officer, were also killed and 17 others injured during the fighting. Abbas stated that the SFs were engaged with militants inside Kanju town to clear the area and an operation was underway in Takhtaband area, where seven combatants were killed in a close encounter. According to him, SFs had also expanded their foothold in Peuchar and killed 12 militants in the area. The troops also attacked and secured the Dumber training centre, which was being used by militants as their logistics base.

Several persons, including women and children, were killed and a number of others sustained injuries when families fleeing the military operation in Swat District’s Matta town were shelled while crossing a mountainous path to reach Karo Darra in Dir Upper District. Eyewitnesses, who escaped the attack or were able to reach Wari town of Dir Upper in injured condition, said they were targeted by gunship helicopters. However, Police officials said they might have been hit by a stray shell. Local people said they saw some 12 to 14 bodies on a mountain on the Swat side but could not go near to retrieve them or help the injured for fear of another aerial attack.

An AP report stated that the TTP Swat chapter spokesman Muslim Khan has said the Taliban would resist the SFs until the "last breath". "We will fight until the last breath for the enforcement of Islamic law," Muslim Khan told in a brief phone call from an undisclosed location on May 17.

SFs killed five militants, including an important commander in the Mulakhel area, and arrested six others in an injured condition. Sources said the militants, equipped with heavy weapons and explosives, were traveling in five vehicles towards a camp of the SFs located beside the Friendship Tunnel. They said the militants wanted to attack the camp located near the tunnel. However, when flagged down at the checkpoint in the Mulakhel area, the militants opened fire on the SF personnel. In the retaliatory action, the troops killed five militants and wounded six others who were subsequently arrested. The slain militants included ‘commander’ Bilal Afridi, who planned and executed attacks on the SFs in Darra Adamkhel. The four others were identified as Umar, Majeed alias Hussaini, Saifullah and Munkaray.

May 19

A Major and three soldiers were killed in the ongoing military operation in Swat District as SFs killed 16 more Taliban militants in fierce street battles in 24 hours. With the area surrounded by the SFs, Major Abid was hit in an exchange of fire with the Taliban inside Matta. "Operation Rah-e-Rast is making headway as planned, and in last 24 hours, 16 Taliban were killed ... an officer and three soldiers also died," said the Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR) in a statement.

The SFs are reportedly consolidating their positions in Peochar valley and conducting search-and-target operations. Troops cleared more than 40 houses in Kanju and areas ahead of Takhtaband Bridge. Footage broadcast on private television channels showed armed soldiers standing outside locked shops in the main bazaar in Matta, a bastion of Taliban leader Maulana Fazlullah. Military officials said SFs were advancing on several fronts towards Mingora. "Troops continue to close in on Mingora, from where Taliban are trying to escape, but our strategy is not to let them flee," an unnamed security official was quoted as saying by the agency. He said the chief objective in coming days was to take over the Taliban’s main headquarters in Peochar, where commandos opened a new front last week.

The military is reported to have stated that approximately 15,000 troops are confronting about 4,000 well-armed militants in Swat. Authorities said more than 1,030 Taliban militants and at least 53 troops have been killed in a three-pronged onslaught launched in the districts of Lower Dir on April 26, Buner on April 28 and Swat on May 8.

An operation to clear Sultanwas in Buner District is reportedly in progress and troops are conducting cordon and search operations in the area.

Reports from Chakdara indicated that three civilians, including two children, were killed and several others sustained injuries when jetfighters allegedly bombed houses in Kithiarai and other areas of Adenzai in Dir Lower District. Residents said jetfighters hit a house owned by one Yar Mulla, killing his wife and two children. Three persons were also injured in the attack in the area. In Landi Shagi area of Ouch, gunship helicopters carried out shelling in which, according to the residents, four persons, including a woman, were injured.

Suspected militants blew up a police post in the suburbs of Peshawar, the NWFP capital. An official of the Mathra Police said explosives had been planted at the Police post located at Bacha Garhi, which went off at about 4am, destroying the structure. He said the Police post had been abandoned two months ago due to lack of personnel.

The building of a public call office near a CNG filling station on the Kohat Road was damaged when explosives planted there went off, the Bana Manai Police said.

May 20

SFs have completely secured the Sultanwas area of Buner District, overcoming tough resistance and killing 80 militants, Director General of the Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR), Major General Athar Abbas said in Islamabad. "Since Tuesday morning to the completion of operation before dawn, 80 militants have been killed," Abbas told a press briefing. However, he said there was no independent confirmation of the casualties due to the ground situation in the area.

The military spokesman said 1,057 militants and 58 SF personnel had been killed in the Swat, Dir and Buner Districts since April 27. He said the foreign nationals arrested so far included Afghans, Uzbeks and Arabs. "The strategy is to kill the maximum number of terrorists. The militant leaders are paying $50 to 60 per day to the fighters," he said.

SFs claimed to have killed over 200 militants during the ongoing military operation in the Maidan area of Lower Dir District since the launch of the offensive. Operational Commander Brigadier Amal Zada, in charge of the ongoing military operation in Lower Dir, told reporters in District headquarters Timergara that over 200 Taliban militants had been killed so far, while 14 Security Force personnel were also killed and 30 others injured. He said a large number of militants had left the area in the guise of internally displaced persons. He, however, said they had cordoned off the militant infested areas and established checkpoints in Hayaserai and Lal Qila areas of Maidan.

A soldier was killed while nine others sustained injuries during the last 24 hours in various areas of Swat District. Director General of the Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR), Major General Athar Abbas said in Islamabad that search and destroy operations continued at Peuchar while clearance of compounds and houses in Matta was in progress. Search and cordon operation was also going on in Kanju, he added. Three soldiers were injured during search and cordon operations in Kanju and Ayub Bridge. During operations in Takhtaband, a soldier was killed and six others wounded.

SFs arrested three Uzbek militant commanders traveling towards Swat to join the Taliban. "The militant commanders from Uzbekistan crossed into Pakistan from Afghanistan and were headed towards Swat to join the Taliban in fighting security forces," unnamed officials told.

Residents of Kalam town in Swat District took eight Taliban militants as hostage after a clash with them. "Heavy clashes are taking place between Kalam residents and Taliban since Tuesday," residents told. There were no reports of casualties on either side.

May 21

19 people, including 11 suspected militants and three SF personnel, were killed in the ongoing military operation and a roadside blast in the Maidan area of Dir Lower District. Sources said two SF personnel, identified as Captain Omarzeb and Lance Naik Shahzad Alam, were killed and two others sustained injuries when a military convoy was attacked with a remote-controlled bomb in the Shahi Koto area of Maidan. Consequent to the blast, SFs opened fire, killing four persons and injuring two children. Further, one trooper, Mehboob, was killed during the search operation in the Kumbar area. Four militants were also killed in the search operation.

During clashes in the Nanbati and Kalpani areas, seven militants were killed, while a soldier sustained injuries. In addition, a man was shot dead in Chakdara for violating curfew. Residents of the area reportedly said there was a curfew in the area for the last eight days.

The Adenzai Qaumi Jirga (council of elders) held successful talks with the militants and the Taliban agreed to leave the area. The militants’ commanders reportedly assured the elders that they would leave the area to end the misery of the local population. Locals claimed that the Taliban had started moving out of the area.

SFs said that ‘a number of Taliban’ – including an important commander – and five soldiers were killed in 24 hours in Swat, in the latest update on the military operations. "An important ... [Taliban] commander, Abu Tariq, was killed and seven Taliban were apprehended… A number of Taliban were killed, while five soldiers also died in Kanju and Takhtaband area," said the Inter-Services Public Relations. The SFs have cleared a number of Taliban hideouts in Peochar valley, and are conducting search and destroy operations that have resulted in several battles between the Taliban and the troops. The SFs have reportedly secured and cleared the area up to Shahid Khapa, and are strengthening their positions around Takhtaband Bridge, Barikot, Gokdara and Udigram areas. The SFs also attacked Banai Baba Ziarat on May 20 and secured the highest point in the area.

May 22

17 militants and three SF personnel were killed and ten SF personnel sustained injuries during fighting in various areas of Swat District. According to an official announcement, troops are consolidating their positions and expanding their control over the valley. The SFs are reported to have secured militants’ strongholds in Takhtaband village and Qambar. During an encounter between the two sides, eight militants and one soldier were killed and six SF personnel were wounded.

The bodies of two policemen were found lying in the Nishat Chowk in Mingora town. In addition, four militants were arrested from the Kot Musa area.

In the Shangla District, troops took control of Baini Baba Ziarat, Nazarabad, Uchraisar, and Wanai Ridge. During clashes between the Taliban and SFs, three militants and an Army officer were killed.

A powerful car bomb exploded near the Tasveer Mahal Cinema hall in the busy Kabuli Chowk area of Peshawar, capital of the NWFP, killing at least 10 people and injuring over 65 others. Besides destroying the front elevation of the Tasveer Mahal Cinema, the powerful explosion also damaged another nearby movie hall, dozens of music centres and shops as well as several vehicles. The blast also disconnected power supply to the area hampering rescue efforts. Windowpanes of buildings in the adjoining Qissa Khwani, Khyber Bazaar, Mohallah Jhangi, Shoba Bazaar and Namakmandi areas were damaged due to the impact of the explosion. The Capital City Police Officer, Safwat Ghayyur, while admitting a security lapse, said 40-50 kilograms of explosives were used in the blast. However, bomb disposal squad experts said over 60 kilograms of explosives and several mortar shells were used in the bomb that was triggered through a time-device.

May 23

17 Taliban militants, including a ‘commander’, were killed by the troops at Mingora in Swat, chief military spokesman Major General Athar Abbas said. He said the troops had secured a part of the city from the Circuit House to Makan Bagh. Battles to secure Nawan Killi have begun and a link up between forces coming from Fiza Ghat to Whataki Chowk and Ayub Bridge to Nawan Killi has been completed. Intense clashes were reported from Nishat Chowk in Mingora. The report adds that a suicide bomber was shot dead and an explosives-laden vehicle was destroyed in Makanzai area of the city. On the Qambar Ridge overlooking Mingora, three caves with large quantities of ammunition and rations were discovered during a search and destroy operation. The Taliban militants are on the run in small groups from their former Peochar stronghold. Troops have secured the vital Wanai Bridge linking Matta with Peochar. Gen Abbas said there were about 1,500 ‘hardcore militants’ still fighting in Swat, and that the army would try to complete the operation in eight weeks.

May 24

Troops have secured several important areas in Mingora, including a crossing infamous for beheadings carried out by the Taliban, said SFs as the military killed 10 more militants in various areas of Swat District. The Inter-Services Public Relations said 10 militants and three soldiers were killed in gun-battles in various areas of Swat, while 14 militants were also arrested. Five of the militants were killed in Malam Jabba when the SFs were tipped off about their presence in the area. The troops secured various important areas in Mingora – including Wattakai Chowk, Nawakilli Chowk, Nishat Chowk, Sirafe Chowk, Gulshan Chowk, Green Chowk, Haji Baba Chowk and Sohrab Chowk – in the 24 hours preceding the latest ISPR update on the operation. Green Chowk is infamous for beheadings carried out by the Taliban. The military said troops defused four IED during the operation in Mingora. Further, after surrounding Peochar valley, troops entered Peochar village and seized a huge cache of arms from Taliban hideouts and overtook a factory manufacturing bombs and IEDs.

Police in Charsadda District said they have arrested seven Taliban militants. Charsadda Police chief Riaz Khan said the arrested men included Qari Ihsanullah, a Taliban commander suspected of carrying out attacks both in Pakistan and Afghanistan. "We recovered three suicide jackets, explosives and assault rifles from their possession," he said.

The SFs claimed to have secured the training centre and logistic base of militants in the Malam Jabba area of Swat Valley. SFs also killed four militants during operations in the Fizagat and Peuchar areas and arrested eight others. According to the Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR), SFs faced stiff resistance from the militants in Malam Jabba. However, it said the troops secured Malam Jabba, believed to be one of the strongholds of the militants in the valley. Located on main line of communication that links the Swat Valley with Mansehra, the area with thick forest was being used as a training centre and logistic base by the militants.

SFs also secured Fizagat, a few kilometers north of Mingora city, and the area up to Watakai. During the operation, two militants were killed and six soldiers were wounded in an encounter. One armed personnel carrier and a huge cache of arms and ammunition were also recovered. After resumption of the operation in Peuchar, a heavy exchange of fire took place between the two sides. During the encounter, two militants were killed and five others arrested. The ISPR said that the militants were on the run from the valley.

Continuing with operations in Qambar, a stronghold of the militants situated three kilometers ahead of Mingora, troops secured the village and Qambar ridge, besides clearing six tunnels. The area up to Grid Station, Amankot and a junction in Saidu Khuar were also reportedly secured. Odigram was also controlled where three militants were arrested in a search and cordon operation.

Reports from Daggar indicated that fighting has broken out in the Pacha and Pir Baba villages of Buner District following an advance by the Pakistan Army ground troops. Sources in the area said the troops after consolidating their positions were now marching on Pacha and Pir Baba and facing resistance from well-entrenched Taliban militants who had taken up positions in roadside houses and in the streets. The troops had earlier taken control of Jokhela Chowk and advanced on the road to Pir Baba. They had also seized Sultanwas, which was the Taliban headquarters in Buner, and Ghazi Khanay village. Sources said militants were still present in some strength in the Gokand Valley, Salarzai sub-division, Hissar, Bhagra, Bhatay and Malikpur areas.

The Taliban chief in Swat, Maulana Fazlullah, has asked his men to stop battling the SFs in Mingora, a stronghold of the militants. "Maulana Fazlullah has directed all his mujahideen to stop resistance in Mingora and its surroundings to avoid hardships to the people and losses to the civilian population," Taliban spokesman Muslim Khan told. "Most of our mujahideen have already left Mingora," he said by telephone from an unspecified location. He accused the military of killing civilians during its operations in the Lower Dir, Buner and Swat Districts. The Army spokesman Major General Athar Abbas, however, said the militants "have started using ploys to escape. They are now remembering the civilians whom they used to behead and decapitate."

Unidentified gunmen shot dead three Shia labourers in a drive-by shooting in Dera Ismail Khan. The assailants, riding a motorcycle, opened fire on a group of workers at a construction site, local Police chief Muhammad Iqbal said. "Three of the workers died on the spot and one was injured. The victims were all Shias," he told. The slain civilians were identified as Muhammad Nawaz, Jahangir and Mumtaz Hussain.

Suspected Taliban militants blew up a CD shop and a Police post in Peshawar, the NWFP capital, but there were no casualties. A Police official told that explosives planted in the CD shop went off around 3am and slightly damaged the shop. Suspected militants also targeted a Police check-post on the Pajjagi Road. There were, however, no casualties.

The Taliban destroyed a girls' school in Hangu District. A private TV channel reported that militants had planted explosives at the Government school in Shahidkhel area in the early hours of the morning, and the consequent blast destroyed the entire building. No casualties were reported.

SFs have gained control of half of Mingora city and killed 29 militants in various areas of Swat Valley during the last 24 hours besides arresting 14 others, the Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR) Director General Major General Athar Abbas said. "Six soldiers also laid down their lives and 11 others sustained injuries," he told reporters at a press briefing in Islamabad. "More than half of Mingora is under the army's control. We have plugged all escape routes for militants," said Abbas, adding that pockets of "hardcore militants" remained. The military spokesman said the operation was progressing well despite stiff resistance by the militants. He said street fights and house-to-house search was going on in Mingora city. Athar said 18 militants were killed in Mingora during an encounter and seven others were arrested when they were trying to escape towards Buner District. He said four IEDs were also defused in the area.

The Malakand-Qambar-Mingora road has reportedly been opened for traffic. In Qambar, SFs defused 12 IEDs and also recovered huge cache of arms and ammunition. The Kanju-Kabal road has also been cleared and fierce fighting is reportedly underway for securing Kabal. In Peuchar, the military spokesman said SFs continued a cordon and search operation and destroyed Taliban strongholds at Mano Derai. During the exchange of fire, three militants were killed while three others were arrested. A remote controlled IED was also defused at Pir Killay by the troops. Security forces have also cleared Sakhra Valley, the main route of the militants' movement from Peuchar towards Kalam and other areas.

About Buner, he said 90 percent area of the District had been cleared although some terrorists are present at Pir Baba. During search at check-posts, four militants have been arrested, he said. He added that in the night of May 25, about 100 to 120 militants attacked the Kalpani post in Dir Lower District from three directions and the attack was repulsed and militants suffered heavy casualties. Eight bodies have been recovered in close vicinity of the check-post. Two SF personnel were also killed in the incident and three others were wounded.

Several militants and five civilians were killed and 10 others injured in shelling by the military gunship helicopters in Shangla District. Sources said the SFs, backed by gunship helicopters, targeted the militant-infested areas of Jabar, Amnavi and Achar. The sources added these areas were heavily shelled and SFs on the ground continued search and cordon operations. There were reports that several militants and five civilians were killed in the shelling.

Three Policemen and a suspected militant were killed and an ASI sustained injuries in a pre-dawn encounter with local and foreign militants in the Malikyar village of Haripur District. This was the first major case involving militants in Haripur District. The suspected militants were believed to have attacked the Police party in a bid to secure the release of five women, who had been put under house arrest after the Police arrested a foreigner, Abdullah, from there last week. Some hand grenades, Kalashnikovs, computers and CDs having footages of the Taliban, were also recovered in the raid.

Two Taliban commanders from Buner District were arrested in Swabi. The sources said the two commanders - identified as Ihsanullah and Riaz - were carrying a hand grenade, two pistols and a wireless set when they were arrested. They said that both were residents of Sawari area in Buner District.

A hand grenade attack on the house of a Shia family in Dera Ismail Khan killed a man and injured two others. According to Police, Zafar Abbas was at his house in Awanabad area with two other men when unidentified militants hurled a hand grenade at the house, killing Abbas and injuring the other two men. However, AFP put the number of the injured at three. The blast destroyed parts of the house, while nearby houses were also damaged. No one has so far claimed responsibility for the attack, Police said.

The Taliban said they wanted to return to the peace deal with the NWFP Government, similar to the one that collapsed in April 2009 and triggered the military operation in Swat and Malakand. The TNSM chief Maulana Sufi Muhammad claimed the Taliban in Swat District were willing to disarm if the Government implemented Sharia (Islamic law) in the region, his spokesman said.

SFs said they would clear Mingora town in Swat District of the Taliban within two to three days, as 12 more militants were killed in the ongoing military operation. Mingora Force Commander Brigadier Tahir Hamid told the media that SFs had secured 70 percent of Mingora city. He said the army was chasing the Taliban through the streets. "We tried not to use helicopter gunships in populated areas to avoid collateral damage," he added. According to an Inter-Services Public Relations statement, one solider was killed during the operation in the last 24 hours. It said the SFs had distributed four truckloads of relief items among the people of Mingora. However, it added, Taliban were attacking and snatching relief items being dispatched for stranded people of Bharain, Madyan and Kalam. It said the areas up to Sultanwas in Buner, and Mohmand Agency, had been cleared of the Taliban.

SFs continued their advance on Kanju-Kabal, while securing their positions at Madyan, Bagh Derai, Kala Kot, and Sakhra Valley. In addition, two soldiers were killed when their vehicle hit a roadside bomb in Qambar near Mingora.

Troops claimed to have killed 10 militants in the Maidan area of Lower Dir District. Militants' hideouts in Zaimdara, Shagai, Dabako, Babagam and other place of upper Maidan reportedly came under shelling. A local source said that the Taliban militants were fleeing Maidan and only a few hardcore militants were offering resistance. He said the militants who had come from Waziristan were not seen patrolling the area for over a week. "They have either been killed in the operation or have returned to Waziristan," he added.

Troops have reportedly cleared the Peshawar-Chitral road and a swathe from Chakdara to Timergara and set up two check-posts in Talash. They also distributed pamphlets warning people against sheltering the Taliban. "Houses, streets and villages from where security forces are attacked will be considered as Taliban's posts and would be destroyed," the pamphlet said. Meanwhile, Security Forces arrested the chief of Al Badar Mujahideen Pakistan, Bakht Zamin Khan, and his son Hafizullah, but released them five hours later. However, the circumstances and reasons for the detention were not reported.

The NWFP Government has received reports that TTP Swat chief Maulana Fazlullah has been killed in the military operation in Swat, provincial Information Minister Iftikhar Hussain said. He told the media in capital Peshawar that several key militant commanders' deaths had already been confirmed. The NWFP government has also decided to place head money on the Taliban leadership, he added.

Terrorists attacked Peshawar, capital of the NWFP, and its environs as eight people were killed and over 68 sustained injuries. Two separate blasts took place in the Qissa Khwani bazaar while three Policemen were killed and nine others injured in a suicide attack on a Police vehicle at the Sra Khawra security post on the Kohat road. Two suspected militants were killed and two others arrested in an encounter between the Police and alleged terrorists who had taken shelter in a building located behind Qissa Khwani bazaar soon after the two blasts.

The first blast occurred at the congested Kabari bazaar at the back of Qissa Khwani bazaar at 5:40pm. Two minutes later, another bomb planted in a motorbike in front of a sweet shop in Qissa Khwani exploded. At least seven persons, including a minor girl, were killed, while 63 others wounded in these explosions. There were reports that three of the deceased were killed in cross-firing between the suspected militants and Police. Bomb disposal squad experts said 4 to 5 kilograms of explosives was used in the twin blasts.

When people were busy in rescue work in Qissa Khwani, a suicide bomber riding a vehicle hit a Police mobile vehicle parked near the security post in Sra Khawra area on Kohat road in the jurisdiction of Matani Police station. Three Policemen were killed and nine others injured in the attack on the outskirts of Peshawar. The vehicle was destroyed and the police post was partially damaged in the suicide bombing.

Reports indicated that after the second blast at Qissa Khwani, the Police had an encounter with some suspected militants in the nearby streets. The firing between the militants, who had reportedly made a child hostage, continued for almost an hour. Police shot dead two of the suspects and arrested an equal number from a building, Inspector General Police Malik Naveed said.

A Policeman and two passers-by were killed and 13 people wounded when a suicide attacker exploded an auto-rickshaw near a Police checkpoint in Dera Ismail Khan.

SFs entered Bahrain, while seven more militants were killed and four others, including an important commander, were arrested during the last 24 hours in the ongoing operation in Swat Valley, the Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR) said. Four soldiers were also killed while 12 others sustained injuries in clashes between SFs and militants in different areas of the valley.

According to the ISPR media update, a known militant commander identified as Ghaniur Rehman has been arrested by the troops during the search and cordon operation. He was allegedly involved in killing police officials. A local elder said there were some 40-50 militants in Bahrain but they fled the town on May 27-evening when they came to know about the arrival of the SFs. "They (Taliban) are avoiding fighting with the security forces now and are running," he said and added the militants had shifted to Kalam. The elder said the group of Taliban militants in Kalam was commanded by one Khushmir, a resident of Gilgit. He said five militants were killed in a clash in Bahrain.

The ISPR said an explosive-laden vehicle was destroyed and two militants were killed at Satal, four kilometers short of Bahrain town. Though there were conflicting reports about casualties in the Satal incident, a man from Kalam claimed that a Taliban commander, identified as Wazifa, had been killed in the clash along with seven other militants. He claimed a 'deputy commander' of the militants in the area, Hameedi, confirmed the death of Wazifa.

Some residents of Kanju, who managed to reach the provincial capital Peshawar, said Mingora, Kanju and Kabal towns were almost cleared as the Taliban had vacated these areas. "They have moved towards mountains," they said.

Two militants, according to the ISPR, were killed during an exchange of fire between the Taliban and SFs in Malam Jabba. The SFs also continued action in Peuchar village and carried out cordon and search operations there. The troops also ambushed a group of 15-20 militants at Manodherai and killed three of them while four others were arrested. One soldier sustained injuries in the incident.

A convoy of eight Army trucks carrying relief and food destined for Barikot and Mingora was ambushed at Landakay near Barikot. Four soldiers, the ISPR said, were killed in the incident but relief goods were transported safely and distributed among stranded people of Mingora.

An improvised explosive device exploded near Piran village in Batkhela. However, no loss of life was reported.

The troops were reportedly consolidating their positions in Mingora, Qambar, Kanju and Kabal areas. They also conducted cordon and search operations in Nawagai, Nawan Killi, Gulabad and Landikas.

A report has indicated that the Taliban in Swat pay mercenaries for killing Police and army troops, a suspected Afghan terrorist arrested by local Police told the media, adding that he was paid PKR 20,000 to kill a Policeman. "I beheaded five policemen in Sitara Chowk," Ghaniur Rehman told reporters after SFs arrested him from Malukabad area of the city a day earlier. The suspected Afghan terrorist said he received training at a Taliban training facility in the Charbagh area.

SFs have taken control of Bahrain and cleared Peochar village in the Swat District, the Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR) said as SFs killed 28 Taliban militants, including commander Khush Mir Khan a.k.a. Abu Huzaifa. "The security forces have successfully secured Bahrain," said the ISPR in a statement, adding that the army had also arrested seven Taliban militants from various areas of Swat. The ISPR said five soldiers and two civilians were also injured in an exchange of fire. Some of the heaviest recent fighting is reported to have taken place in Bahrain. In a cordon-and-search operation, the SFs cleared the Taliban stronghold of Peochar village. "The army destroyed Taliban hideouts, including a madrassa, and seized 12 UN-registered vehicles," said the ISPR, adding that four tunnels storing rations stolen from NGOs were also discovered and a 'huge cache of arms' confiscated.

In Mingora, troops continued their cordon-and-search operation, cleared Aman Kot and Technical Institute College on Mingora-Kokarai Road and arrested five militants.

During a search operation in the Kalpani area of Lower Dir District, the army killed six Taliban commanders, identified as Qadir, Noor Hameed, Aftab, Yousaf, Iftikhar and Iftikhar.

The SFs also defused five improvised explosive devices during a search operation around Daggar in Buner District. The army is reported to have killed 13 Taliban militants hiding in a compound during a gun-battle.

1,300 militants and 90 SF personnel have been killed so far during the ongoing operation. Official sources said the troops were moving towards Kalam and would soon enter the area. Troops are also reportedly ensuring that the militants do not return to the areas cleared of them.

Pakistan hiked a reward for Maulana Fazlullah, the Taliban chief in Swat valley, wanted dead or alive, to PKR 50 million, 10 times more than an original bounty. "The federal government has announced 50 million rupees," an Interior Ministry spokesman told. "The five million rupees head money was announced by the provincial government in the NWFP," he added. The Interior Ministry also published a list of "miscreant-terrorists" from the Taliban leadership in Swat and District capital Mingora, offering PKR 50 million for Fazlullah and PKR 10 million each for 15 of his aides.

A man was killed in firing by the SFs and two others, including a minor, were injured in a roadside bomb blast separately in the Shangla District. Sources said Gul Mukhtiar was killed in firing allegedly by SFs. Further, in an improvised explosive device explosion, two persons were injured.

The SFs summoned a meeting of the elders of Puran and Chakesar areas, asking them to expel the militants from their areas or face an operation. It was ascertained that the militants were still carrying out their activities in Yakh Tangi Top in Bisham.

SFs entered the Kalam Valley and took control of Mingora city, while 12 militants were killed during the last 24 hours in the ongoing Operation Rah-e-Rast, the Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR) said. Eight SF personnel were also killed and six others sustained injuries, it added. Mingora city is now reportedly in control of the SFs who are manning every square, street and building and keeping a vigil on every passing vehicle and people.

The troops advancing on the north of Mingora entered Kalam Valley at 10:00 am. The ISPR said troops had secured Mankial, some 14 kilometers from Bahrain, and continued consolidation of their positions in Bahrain, Kuz Laikot and Kidam. The ISPR stated that a cordon and search operation was making a progress in Peuchar, where the SFs recovered a huge cache of arms and ammunition from Dob Banda.

The militants set ablaze the Government Girls' School in Bedara, some 3.5 kilometers north of Matta. The Government High School in the Kuza Bandai village of the Kabal sub-division was also blown up with explosives. The military has not started any major operation in the Kabal sub-division yet, as it was until now focusing on securing Matta and Khwazakhela sub-divisions and the twin towns of Mingora and Saidu Sharif. There were reports that the troops were marching towards Charbagh.

The SFs are reported to have successfully completed the clearance operation at Najigram village in the Buner District. One soldier was killed in an improvised explosive device explosion.

SFs killed two militants at the Umerzeb checkpoint in Dir Lower District during an encounter with the militants. Troops also continued with cordon and search operations at the Kumbar bazaar and Kalpani.

The military operation in Swat District will be completed in two to three days, Secretary of Defence Syed Athar Ali said. Speaking at a security summit in Singapore and talking to Reuters later for an interview, Ali said the military operation in Swat had "met almost complete success", with only 5 percent to 10 percent of the job remaining. "Hopefully within the next two to three days these pockets of resistance will be cleared," Ali told the Shangri-La Dialogue, an annual meeting of defence ministers, officials and experts. Ali said the army conducting the anti-Taliban operation in Swat would remain in Swat until the Police took firm control of the situation.

A soldier was killed and another sustained injuries when militants opened fire on the SFs check-post in Darra Adamkhel. Sources said a group of militants attacked the check-post in Tor Chapper area early in the day killing Sepoy Muhammad Shahid on the spot and injuring another soldier, Riasat. The SFs launched a search operation soon after the attack, targeting suspected hideouts of the militants in different areas of Darra Adamkhel. However, there were no reports of casualties in the operation.

An alleged top militant commander of Michini, identified as Noor Muhammad, was killed in an exchange of fire with Police in the Mathra area.

Taliban attacked the Army Public School in Hangu District, killed a school employee and abducted three persons, including two Policemen. Official sources said a large number of Taliban militants intruded into the school and attempted to abduct the staff. The militants later shot dead an administrative officer, Gharib Gul, and abducted Head Constable Shakirullah, Constable Bilal and a school employee, Sohail.

Security Forces launched an operation in the Yakh Tanghi Top area Alpuri in Shangla District, killing several Taliban militants and destroying their hideouts and a base. Artillery units based in Shangla Top attacked several hideouts of militants who had sneaked into the area from the Swat and Buner Districts. Official sources said that a Government rest-house in Yakh Tanghi built by the former ruler of Swat and being used by militants as their base was hit by shells, leaving several militants dead.

Videos made by the Taliban in Swat have shown teenage boys being groomed as suicide bombers. Militants went from house to house in May demanding a man or boy from each family. The recruits were encouraged to volunteer for suicide missions. A Taliban spokesman has said the recent suicide attacks in Lahore and Peshawar were revenge for the army's assault in the NWFP. Films obtained by Sunday Telegraph show boys of 14 or 15 recording farewell messages before climbing into vehicles filled with explosives.

SFs claimed to have killed 37 militants in the Swat Valley and the Buner District during the ongoing military operation against Taliban. In addition, troops launched an operation in the Charbagh area of the valley to clear it of the militants, while curfew was lifted from Kalam town after talks between SFs and local elders. The Frontier Corps sources said SFs engaged the militants in their hideouts in Pacha Killay, Tongo Pull, Jawar and Gul Killay. 19 militants were killed during an exchange of fire between the SFs and Taliban, the sources claimed.

The ISPR said 18 militants were killed and 12 others were arrested during the ongoing Operation Rah-e-Rast in Swat Valley. The ISPR said normalcy was returning to Mingora. The ISPR also said food items and medicines were being supplied to the city, while hospital staff and technicians had already been flown in. Meanwhile, troops launched an operation in Charbagh to purge it of militants. Heavy clashes reportedly broke out for the control of the Jangle Jerki village. SFs faced stiff resistance from the militants during their operation to link Kabal to Sarsenai. The ISPR said an exchange of fire took place in Fatehpur, in which one militant was killed. In Qalagai, a Taliban hideout was attacked and three of the militants were killed, while seven others were arrested. A check-post at Ronial in the Matta sub-division also came under attack by the militants, in which three soldiers and four civilians were injured. The ISPR, however, said five militants were arrested.

SFs carried out a search and destroy operation in the Dambar Kandao area of Peuchar and destroyed a training centre of the militants. A newly-constructed, 50-foot-long tunnel in the area was destroyed, along with a huge cache of arms and ammunition. The ISPR claimed that nine militants were killed and six others sustained injuries in the operation. One soldier sustained injuries in firing by the Taliban.

Troops are reported to have dislodged militants from most of the towns in Buner District, but Pacha Killay and its surrounding areas are still believed to be infested with the Taliban militants. The militants on May 31 reportedly beheaded three persons in Pacha Killay for spying for the SFs. The Buner District Coordination Officer (DCO) Yahya Akhundzada said the situation in Pacha Killay had improved. He, however, admitted that there was still a problem beyond Pacha Killay. "Pir Baba, Gokand and Karakar are still volatile, but action will certainly be taken to clear these areas of the militants," the DCO said. About the overall security situation in the District, Akhundzada said normalcy was returning to Buner. Yahya told that 50 per cent employees had resumed their duties, while others had conveyed by phone that they would rejoin on June 2 (today). About some reports of suspension of Police officials, he said more than 100 Policemen had been suspended for failing to resume their duties.

Two people were killed and 18 others injured in a bomb blast at a bus station in the Tirah bazaar of Kohat town in Kohat District. Senior Police official Ehsanullah Khan said that the explosive device was hidden in a sack and was detonated by a remote control. A doctor at the main District hospital said two dead bodies had been brought in after the blast.

Taliban militants abducted a convoy of 30 buses carrying more than 500 students and staff of the Razmak Cadet College (of North Waziristan) in Bannu in the NWFP. They were on their way to Bannu after the college closed for its summer vacation, town Police chief Iqbal Marwat said. "Only two buses carrying some 25 students reached Bannu," Marwat said, adding that about 28 buses carrying around 400 students were missing. "They have been kidnapped by Taliban militants," Marwat. The college is an army-run educational institution for civilians. Those kidnapped include students and civilian staff, he said. Officials told the convoy reached Kajori check-post on the border of North Waziristan and Bannu safe, but were abducted from Marwat Kanal area in Baqakhel Police precincts. "Militants started firing in the air to stop the vehicles and then they forcibly drove them to unknown place," Javed Alam, vice principal of the college, told a private television channel.

Police arrested seven suspected militants during search operation in a camp, set up for internally displaced persons (IDP) at Wari Technical College in the Upper Dir District of NWFP. Sources said that Police launched a search operation the camp, established for the people displaced from Swat and Lower Dir. Seven suspected militants belonging to the Peochar area of Swat and Maidan area of Lower Dir were arrested during the operation. The arrested militants were identified as Sherin Zada, Wazir Zada, Mohammad Sher, Alam Khan and Sherin Mohammad belonging to Peochar and Shakirullah of Maidan.

Battling the Taliban militants for the control of Charbagh in Swat Valley, Security Forces faced stiff resistance, killing 21 militants and suffering three casualties during the last 24 hours, the ISPR said. In addition, 18 militants were arrested during the Operation Rah-e-Rast in Charbagh and other areas. SFs, after asking the local population to vacate the area, launched an operation against the militants in Charbagh and Kabal areas. The ISPR said that the troops, during the operation in Charbagh, cleared the area between little-known Jangle Tekri and Sra Chena. One soldier was killed during the clashes while four others sustained injuries. However, the troops successfully secured Alamganj, Waliabad and Gulibagh areas in Charbagh, the ISPR said. During the clashes in Charbagh and Alamganj areas, it said 14 militants were killed and 18 others arrested.

The troops launched an operation in Kot and cleared Khairabad and Sarsenai check-post in Swat, the ISPR added. An exchange of fire took place between SFs and the militants in the area in which two militants were killed. Troops also carried out a search and destroy operation in the Mandi Banda area of Peuchar and recovered some arms and ammunition.

The ISPR said troops also undertook operations in the Shangla District. An exchange of fire took place between the two sides in which two soldiers were killed while two others sustained injuries. SFs, it said, killed five militants during the operation. Three children were reportedly wounded when the militants fired two mortar shells at Ronial and Dang Arkot Qila.

Unidentified gunmen shot dead an agricultural research officer and his driver in the Kolachi area of Dera Ismail Khan. Sources said Muhammad Iqbal was on his way to the research station at Paharpur in Kolachi in his official vehicle when the gunmen opened fire on him. Consequently, Iqbal and his driver, Najeebullah, sustained bullet injuries. They were shifted to the District Headquarters Hospital where they succumbed to their injuries. Muhammad Iqbal was the elder brother of Qari Khalil Ahmad, a leader of the outlawed Sunni group SSP.

SFs claimed to have killed three militants in the Bedara area of Matta sub-division in Swat and secured Charbagh, where troops were now consolidating their position. The ISPR claimed that the SFs conducted a search operation in a seminary situated near Allahabad town in Charbagh and recovered a huge cache of explosives and improvised explosive devices. The troops also cleared Dakorak area near Gulibagh and established two check-posts in Satal near Bahrain. They also consolidated their position in Kalam. In the Bedara area of Matta, the militants attacked a post that led to an exchange of fire. The ISPR claimed that three militants and a soldier were killed and two soldiers were wounded in the incident.

In Lower Dir District, the SFs launched an operation and successfully secured the area from Gulabad to Shewa, Kithiari and Asband.

In the Buner District, the SFs started an operation early in the morning and successfully secured Pir Baba and Bhai Killay.

Army spokesman Major General Athar Abbas told reporters on a military-organised tour of Mingora town that it could take another two months of fighting to overthrow the militants from all their hideouts in Swat and the surrounding areas. He added, though, that the two months timetable was "a rough estimate." Earlier, Major General Ijaz Awan, a senior commander in Mingora, said the military hoped about 2,500 Police personnel would return to Mingora by end of June 2009 to take over security, but that the army would probably have to stay in the Swat region for at least another year to fully secure it.

220 schools were reportedly blown up by the militants in Swat, during the ongoing wave of militancy while more than 10 private institutions were also destroyed. More than 60,000 students could not appear in the intermediate exam and all of them are now living in other cities as displaced persons. This was revealed in a report released by the Global Peace Council (GPC). President of the GPC, Ziaullah Yousafzai, while addressing a press conference at the Peshawar Press Club, said the 92-year-old infrastructure of Swat had been completely destroyed during the insurgency in the valley. He also said students of the entire District were vulnerable to the post traumatic effects and most of them had already developed psychological diseases.

SFs said they killed 10 Taliban militants and arrested six others in various areas of the Swat and Buner Districts, while a soldier was killed and two others injured in various clashes. Troops engaged fleeing militants at a check-post at Shangla and killed six of them and arrested four others, according to the ISPR.

Chief of the Army Staff (COAS) General Ashfaq Parvez Kayani said that the tide in Swat had decisively turned with the Army's resolve to defeat the terrorists. Expressing the Army's commitment to aggressively hunt high-value targets, Gen Kayani announced that the Army would continue carrying out operations at a limited scale with an objective of clearing the remaining hideouts and sanctuaries of terrorists. Addressing the 119th Corps Commanders' Conference held at the General Headquarters in Rawalpindi, Kayani said major population centres and roads leading to the Swat valley had been largely cleared off the organised resistance by terrorists. The COAS said isolated incidents of violence would continue and would have to be managed. "The Army will stay in Swat to provide security to the people," he added.

At least seven SF personnel, including three Police officers and a Special Services Group (SSG) captain, were killed when the militants attacked a Buner-bound joint Police and Frontier Corps convoy at Natian, triggering a full-fledged operation in the area that continued till late night. Military sources, however, denied the killing of the military captain. Further, there were reports of the killing of one militant and injuries to several others. The exact number of causalities from the militants' side could not be ascertained. However, 32 people are reported to have sustained injuries in the clashes.

Suspected Taliban militants blew up a girls' high school in the Badabher Police precincts of capital Peshawar. A Police official at the Badabher Police Station told that the suspects had planted explosives at the school and that the blast had severely damaged the building. A Bomb Disposal Squad official said militants had planted five bombs weighing around four to five kilograms each and also fired a rocket at the building. Sulimankhel Nazim Akmal Khan told that the local Taliban and Lashkar-e-Islam militants could be behind the attack. He said the suspects had also blown up CD shops in the union council a few months ago.

A suicide bomber killed 49 worshippers, including 12 children, at a mosque in a remote village of the Dir Upper District. Dozens more were injured as a young man detonated explosives fastened to his body minutes before the Friday congregation in the Hayagay Sharqi village. No group has so far claimed responsibility for the suicide attack. The village, located in the mountains, is situated approximately 20 kilometers east of Dir town, the District headquarters. Reports indicated that the Hayagay Sharqi village has been strongly opposed to the presence of the Taliban militants in the Doog Darra area of Dir Upper.

SFs said they had killed 10 Taliban militants and arrested four people, including three activists of the TNSM, while 14 SF personnel were killed and 14 others injured in clashes with the Taliban in Malakand Division.

The SFs recovered 35 improvised explosive devices, three Thuraya sets, two FM transmitters, 500 detonators, three long-range antennas and a large number of pistols and rifles from a compound in the Tahirabad area of Mingora. During the exchange of fire between the two sides, one soldier was also injured.

The federal Interior Minister, Rehman Malik, warned of strict action against those challenging the Government's writ. Speaking to the media at the Parliament House in Islamabad, Malik said media reports regarding the arrest of TNSM Chief Maulana Sufi Muhammad and the TTP chief Maulana Fazlullah were incorrect. "Neither Maulana Fazlullah has been killed nor he or Maulana Sufi Muhammad were arrested. The Swat Operation is going on and the situation for the return of the Internally Displaced Persons (IDPs) would be clear within next few weeks," he said. Malik also stated that the SFs arrested some militant commanders and their deputies. He told a questioner that the infrastructure was badly affected in the Operation Zone and daily use items were not available. Consequently, Malik noted that no timeframe for the return of the IDPs can be set.

President Asif Ali Zardari directed the NWFP Government to immediately fill all vacant posts in the provincial Police department. Presidential spokesman Farhatullah Babar said Zardari had issued the directive after consulting with Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani and the Finance Division. Babar said the president ordered that 2,500 former-defence personnel should be recruited in the Police department on a two-year contract by the end of June 2009. The recruits would be deployed in the troubled regions of the NWFP, he added. The expenditure incurred would be borne by the federal government and the adjutant general of the Pakistan Army would act as the focal person for recruiting the ex-defence personnel.

SFs claimed to have killed 10 militants and secured the Chakesar area of Shangla District during military action against the Taliban militants. The ISPR said SFs carried out action in the Shangla District, situated to the east of the Swat valley, killing 10 militants in Chakesar. It claimed that the troops had cleared the Chakesar area of the militants. In addition, the area from Chakesar up to Aloch, Bazarkot and Shell Qasar were cleared and a linkup was established with the Charbagh area of Swat at Dakorak, the ISPR said.

Four farmers harvesting wheat crop in fields were reportedly killed when hit by mortar shells in the Tawa area of Puran sub-division in Shangla District. During their advance towards Chakesar, SFs shelled the suspected hideouts of militants in the Yakhtangi area of Shangla District. The farmers, harvesting wheat crop in Tawa, were hit by shells. Some reports from the Martoba area suggested that three more civilians were killed and two others injured when mortar shells struck them. Sources said the SFs reached Yakhtangi Top and Bazarkot in Shangla. The locals, however, said militants had already vacated the area before the arrival of troops.

Four Taliban militants were killed after hundreds of tribesmen attacked their houses at Hayagai Sharqi in Upper Dir District. Residents of the area launched the attack, a private TV channel reported. It said six houses belonging to the Taliban had also been destroyed.

60 Taliban militants were arrested by the SFs from the relief camps established for the internally displaced persons (IDPs) in various parts of the NWFP and elsewhere, said Lt. Col. Wasim, representative of the SFs. At a press briefing on Operation Rah-e-Rast, Wasim told reporters that Pakistan's SFs were vigilant and keeping a stern check on the activities of the Taliban militants who were taking refuge in the IDP camps under civilian garb.

Three SF personnel, including an officer, were killed and seven others sustained injuries, while four militants were also killed during the ongoing Operation Rah-e-Rast, the ISPR said. According to the ISPR media update, two soldiers were killed while fighting the militants in Kabal area, between Gul Jabba and Hazara Bridge.

The ISPR said the militants attacked an important height known as Point 2050, four kilometers west of Ronial, which was retaliated by the SFs. In the ensuing encounter three SF personnel sustained injuries.

On a tip off by a local person of the area, SFs raided the house of a militant, Sardar Ali, in Balakot village, three kilometers west of Shangla Top. During the fighting, two militants availing shelter in the house were killed. In another incident, two militants, riding a motorcycle, were killed, who earlier had targeted the troops, injuring one soldier. The ISPR update said a would-be suicide bomber was arrested in the Kohat Cantonment area.

The SFs are reported to have also consolidated their positions and established check-posts in the Bara Bandai, Koza Bandai and Ningolai areas of Swat. Separately, a Junior Commissioned Officer, Naib Subedar Darwaish, who was in the custody of the militants for over 40 days, managed to escape from their prison in Barikot and reached Goratai safely. Further, during a cordon and search operation in Tahirabad area, SFs recovered an explosive-laden vehicle, which was prepared for carrying out an explosion. The troops also recovered 15 locally-made improvised explosive devices in pressure cookers, which were placed in the vehicle with detonating cords connected.

The SFs successfully secured the Aloch area in Puran sub-division of the Shangla District, besides capturing areas in north and south of Faqirabad.

The Taliban have killed the nephew of the ruling Awami National Party's Member of Provincial Assembly (MPA), Shamsher Ali Khan, and a Policeman in Swat, According to a private TV channel, a number of militants had attacked the MPA's house in Dheri near Kanju airport and abducted his brothers, Muhammad Ali and Shaukat Ali, his nephew Asfghar and two servants.

The Taliban blew up a Government school in Darra Adam Khel. The channel quoted its sources as saying that the Taliban planted explosives near the school in the Shira area of Darra Adam Khel. However, no casualties were reported since the school was closed.

Intensifying the offensive against the Taliban militants, the armed villagers of Hayagay Sharqi in Dir Upper District, backed by the people of dozens of other villages, besieged the militants from all sides, killing six more of them. Locals and the Lashkar (militia) sources said 12 Taliban militants, including two commanders, had been killed so far in the siege, while fighting was continuing till last reports were filed. Capturing several hamlets, the villagers also torched 21 houses owned by the Taliban and their supporters. The people of Hayagay Sharqi, located in mountains some 20 kilometers east of Dir town, the District headquarters, launched an armed action against the Taliban to avenge the killing of 49 persons in the suicide attack at a mosque on June 5.

The Taliban militants, led by Afghan commander Amir Khitab, have been operating in Doog Darra near the bombed village. They are believed to be behind the suicide attack to subjugate the people of Hayagay Sharqi. Some 400 villagers banded together to attack five villages in the nearby Doog Darra area that were known Taliban strongholds, said District Coordination Officer Atifur Rehman. He said the citizens' Lashkar has occupied three of the villages since June 6, and was trying to push the Taliban out of the other two. District Police Chief Ejaz Ahmad said around 200 Taliban militants were putting up a tough resistance, but were surrounded by the villagers.

Hundreds of people of Hayagay Sharqi and Gharbi, armed with heavy weapons, launched the offensive in the evening of June 6. Locals said the people of Kilot, Doon, Ganshal, Gurrai, Narkun, Hayagay Sharqi, Hayagay Gharbi and 20 villages of Doog Darra banded together to rout the militants. The people of two villages, Panaghar and Maluk Khwar, who were previously supporting the Taliban, also abandoned them and joined the Lashkar. "The Lashkar fighters informed me that so far 12 militants had been killed," a supporter of the Lashkar told. A man from Sheringal - a nearby town - said the Taliban had stopped putting up resistance. He also said that the Lashkar was making regular advances towards the stronghold of the militants. "They have been encircled from all sides, including Chitral and we are closing in on them," he said. He put the number of Taliban casualties at 13.

Mortar shells hit a group of people fleeing the fighting in Swat Valley in the Gulibagh area of neighbouring Upper Dir district, killing five civilians, including two women and a child. Due to the military action in Kabal and other areas of Swat, the trapped people are reportedly taking the mountainous path due to the curfew. A group of civilians was going from Swat to Upper Dir through the mountains when mortar shells hit them in the Gulibagh area of Karo Darra in Upper Dir District, killing five of them.

The Taliban attacked a Security Forces' convoy, killing the TNSM deputy chief Maulana Alam and spokesman Amir Izaat while they were being transported to Peshawar, the NWFP capital. The ISPR Director General Major General Athar Abbas told reporters in Rawalpindi the Taliban attacked the convoy after it hit an improvised explosive device. He said one non-commissioned officer was also killed in the attack, and five others were wounded. He said the convoy was carrying prisoners needed for a "special investigation" by intelligence agencies. Responding to questions, he said the TNSM chief Maulana Sufi Muhammad was not in custody, but confirmed that TNSM leader Maulana Wahab was currently being interrogated by the SFs.

During a separate press conference in Peshawar, the NWFP Information Minister Iftikhar Hussain blamed the Taliban for killing the two TNSM leaders. "There were differences between the TNSM and the Taliban. We are 90 percent certain the terrorists attacked the convoy to kill the two men," he said. "We were told by the TNSM leaders during negotiations that the Taliban were threatening them. So, there should be no doubt in anyone's mind about who carried out (Saturday's) attack," he added.

The ISPR Director General, meanwhile, said SFs had cleared Barabonde, and had established check-posts at Kuzabonde and Goraghat. He said 17 Taliban militants had been killed in the Qambar sub-division during the past 24 hours, adding one soldier had also died in the process. He said the Taliban had fired rockets on a check-post of the SFs in Khawazakhela, resulting in two soldiers being killed and one being injured. He said according to estimates, three to four percent of the terrorists killed or arrested by the SFs are foreigners, including Arabs, Central Asians or Afghans.

An Upper Dir tribal Lashkar (militia) seeking retaliation for the suicide attack (June 5) at a mosque has killed 14 Taliban militants, including 'commander' Chamto Afghani, and burnt the houses of another 13 as they besieged two Taliban strongholds of Shatkas and Mena villages. Locals said heavy firing continued on third consecutive day as the militants, whose number was said to be between 200 and 300, had been holed up. In addition, 21 more Taliban militants were killed in various parts of the Malakand Division, according a press release by the ISPR. A local security official in Upper Dir said the Taliban were on the run. "[They] are surrounded from both eastern and western sides and are now fleeing the area after leaving their weapons and disguising themselves," he said.

In the Swat District, three Taliban militants were killed in Charbagh after a tip off from the civilian residents during a cordon and search operation. "Security forces carried out search operations in Bara Banda, Shahdhand Banda and successfully established link up at Damber Sar. During exchange of fire, one terrorist was killed. Security forces also established link up at Shakardara," the ISPR added.

There were some unconfirmed reports that military helicopters dropped weapons to the Lashkar in Upper Dir to encourage them to continue their fight against the Taliban militants. Approximately 1,600 tribesmen have joined a citizens' militia against the Taliban in Upper Dir district.

A Policeman was killed and two people were wounded when a roadside bomb blast destroyed a Police van near the Hazarkhwani village, triggering a crackdown on a religious seminary in the limits of the Agha Mir Jani Shah Police station in Peshawar. The explosion also created a six-foot-deep and five-foot-wide crater in the Hazarkhwani Road near the Akhun Darveza Baba graveyard. "A party of the Agha Mir Jani Shah police station had set up a barricade on the Hazarkhwani Road, while the official van with its driver, Amir Nawaz, was also parked at some distance from the cordon," said a Police official. Terrorists reportedly detonated explosives, planted at the roadside just under the vehicle, with a remote-controlled device when the rest of the Policemen were busy searching vehicles entering the city limits at 5:10 pm, the Police official said.

Seven suspects were detained in the ensuing raids on the religious seminary immediately after the blast. "We conducted a raid on the seminary in the area and arrested seven suspects," said Capital City Police Officer Safwat Ghayyur. Another Police official said a large number of militants were living in the area and the nearby Hazarkhwani town, who had not only blown up the Rehman Baba shrine, but also attacked the Police patrolling vehicles, a number of NATO terminals, CD shops and schools.

The militants also blew up a CD shop at the adjacent Garhi Atta Muhammad town. "Many woke up by the huge explosion at 3 am, who saw six to eight people riding horses before and after the occurrence," said villager Jamroz.

Explosive devices planted beside a Police post in the Changal area of Battagram District went off. No casualty was, however, reported.

A massive truck bomb explosion at the five-star Pearl Continental hotel in Peshawar, the NWFP capital, killed 17 people and injured 60 others. The attackers entered the compound on two vehicles at about 10:30pm, firing at the security guards at the hotel gate with bullets from one and blowing up the other in the hotel parking. "It was a suicide attack," Capital City Police Officer Sefwat Ghayur told AFP. "There are two foreigners among the dead," NWFP Information Minister Mian Iftikhar Hussain said. Among those who were injured are the ruling Awami National Party's minister Zarshed Khan, Senator Nabi Bangash, UN officials, three foreigners and an airline's crew. 40 vehicles parked in the compound were destroyed and the building was seriously damaged. A Bomb Disposal Squad official told reporters at least 500 kilograms of explosives were used in the attack.

Troops killed 27 more Taliban militants in various parts of Malakand Division, while a soldier was killed and nine others injured in clashes with the militants. A military statement said 14 militants were killed and 22 arrested during a search and destroy operation in Peochar valley. "A tunnel, a cache of arms and ammunition, and explosives were seized," it said. Troops also conducted a cordon and search operation to secure Darmai village in Sakhra valley. A soldier was killed in a Taliban attack on the Kalpanai check-post, and three others were injured during a clash in Uchrai Sar.

Tribal militia in the Upper Dir District secured four villages and killed 13 Taliban militants. Foreign news agencies said they were backed by army helicopter gunships. A private TV channel said key TNSM supporter in Shangla District, identified as Waliullah Bilgarami, has surrendered.

The TNSM Swat unit chief and two other suspects were arrested from the Hayatabad area of provincial capital. Iqbal Khan, who belongs to the Matta area of Swat, was the District chief of the TNSM, while the other two suspects are his relatives. They were reportedly staying in a rented house in Phase-IV of the Hayatabad locality.

SFs launched an operation against the Bakakhel and Janikhel tribesmen in the Frontier Region (FR) of Bannu District for their failure to hand over the kidnappers of the Razmak Cadet College students and teachers. There were reports that 20 militants were killed and several others injured in the operation. However, these reports could not be confirmed from independent sources. The District administration clamped a curfew in the area from 6am to 7pm and closed the Bannu-Miranshah road for all kinds of traffic.

SFs started artillery shelling from the Bannu military camp towards suspected locations of the militants in Bakakhel and Janikhel villages. Bannu District Coordination Officer Kamran Zeb Khan told Associated Press that the military operation began after a deadline given to tribal leaders in the region to hand over militant suspects had expired.

Four Policemen and two other people were injured when a roadside bomb hit a Rescue-15 van in Dera Ismail Khan. The Policemen were on a patrol and when their van reached Ashyan Shopping Centre on the North Circular Road the bomb was detonated by a remote control. The vehicle was completely destroyed.

Troops have killed more than 100 Taliban militants during two days of operation in the Jani Khel and Baka Khel areas of Frontier Region (FR) Bannu. A private TV channel reported that Taliban commander Sher Alam is among the dead. SFs are currently targeting Taliban positions with gunship helicopters and artillery shells, the channel said. Up to 800 Taliban militants have reportedly arrived in the semi-tribal area of FR Bannu that borders North Waziristan to fight the army that has started an operation in the area. "Reportedly 600 to 800 terrorists reached Jani Khel from Miranshah and Razmak. They are planning to strike at various places in the NWFP," the military said in a press release. The operation was launched after the Jani Khel tribesmen failed to hand over militants involved in the abduction of hundreds of students and staff of Razmak Cadet College last week. Troops moved in on June 8 after talks between two tribes thought to be involved in the abduction and political administration broke down. "Forces pounded the militant hideouts for the whole night and in the morning in Jani Khel tribal area," local Police official Khalil Zaman told.

In Bannu District, a man was killed and two others sustained injuries when Taliban militants fired a rocket at a house.

23 Taliban militants and two soldiers were killed in clashes in parts of the Swat District. While one militant was killed during a search operation in Batkhela, six others were killed when the army retaliated an attack in Banmani Sar. The army is reported to have secured the Shalkosar Top and Shalkosar Kandao in Peochar valley. 16 militants were killed in fierce fighting over Shalkosar. In addition, a soldier was killed in a Taliban attack on Bariam Bridge near Matta, and another when they fired a rocket at Kabbal Camp.

A previously unknown Al Qaeda-linked group, the Abdullah Azzam Shaheed Brigade, claimed responsibility for the suicide attack o Hotel Pearl Continental. A spokesman of the organisation, Amir Muawiya, telephoned reporters in the Kohat city, claiming responsibility for the attack and threatened more such bombings. He said the bombing was in retaliation to the operations by the Pakistani armed forces, at the behest of the US, in Swat and rest of the Malakand region and also in the tribal areas of Darra Adamkhel and the Orakzai Agency. Amir Muawiya was a Pakistani Taliban commander operating in the semi-tribal area of Darra Adamkhel, located between Peshawar and Kohat. According to Amir Muawiya, the central Shura, or council of the Taliban and also al-Qaeda, had decided that only the Abdullah Azzam Shaheed Brigade would claim responsibility in future and others would keep quiet. The spokesman said his group would be willing to explode a small bomb outside the BBC office in Islamabad to prove the group's power and capability. He also said his group had carried out the attack on the Police Training Academy at Manawan in Lahore, the bombing of the NATO transport terminals in Peshawar and other attacks.

Two more militants were killed as armed villagers of a tribal Lashkar (militia) intensified their assault on the Taliban holed up in Shatkas and Ghazigay villages of Doog Darra area in the Upper Dir District. Sources said that militants were putting up stiff resistance and firing on the advancing villagers. The Lashkar fighters are reported to have attacked Taliban's positions with heavy weapons and destroyed five of their bunkers. Two militants were killed in the attack. At least 15 militants have been killed since the launch of the offensive by the Lashkar. 12 militants and four militiamen men have been injured.

Foreign missions have suspended their activities in Peshawar, capital of the NWFP, following the June 9-suicide attack on the five-star Hotel Pearl Continental in which 17 persons were killed. The United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR), the World Food Programme (WFP), the American Consulate in Peshawar and several other diplomatic missions and international bodies suspended their activities in the city by directing foreign officials to restrict their movement. The WFP also suspended its operations, but its activities for the internally displaced persons (IDPs) of the Malakand Division will continue. Two foreign UN officials, Serbian national Aleksandar Vorkapic of the UNHCR, Perseveranda So of the Philippines working for the UNICEF, and three local officials of the United Nations Population Fund, Muhammad Miskin, administration relief assistant, Muhammad Tahir and a driver Muhammad Fawad, were among those killed in the suicide blast. A UN official said four of the wounded UN workers included Gordon Brown and Augustine Fredrick of the WFP, Adili Motupotu of the World Health Organisation and a UNICEF intern, Anna Ciger. According to the sources, 22 foreigners were inside the hotel when the blast occurred. The wounded foreigners included a Somali national, three Nigerians, a US national girl and a German. The UN confirmed the death of its two officials in the blast, saying seven of its workers sustained injuries in the incident. The United Nations has cancelled all its activities in Peshawar for an indefinite period following the death of two of its staffers in the attack.

The SFs killed 66 more militants and arrested nine others, while four soldiers also died and 12 others sustained injuries in various areas of Malakand Division and Bannu, the Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR) said.

In Swat, the SFs are consolidating their positions at secured areas of Kabal, while operations in the remaining areas are in progress. During an encounter with the militants, three soldiers sustained injuries. The SFs launched search and destroy operations at Ashro Kandao, Arkot Qilla, Shakardarra, Matta triangle, Sakhra, Matta, Kharerai and Sarai. They also secured Sijban area on Runial-Chuprial route, while during exchange of fire with the Taliban three soldiers were injured. In an exchange of fire between the two sides in Peuchar area, one soldier was injured, while 10 militants were killed and six others were arrested.

In Buner District, an improvised explosive device planted by the militants exploded on Ambela-Daggar road. Three vehicles were partially damaged in the blast. The SFs, meanwhile, secured Gat Khela and Jowar areas and also destroyed a militants' hideout in Gatkala area.

In Frontier Region (FR) Bannu, according to the ISPR update, the troops secured Kotka Saifullah and Sara Bangal areas. During search operations in Sara Bangal, 34 militants were killed, while three others were arrested. The ISPR said about 400 militants attacked the Siplatoi and Jandola Fort late on June 10-night, killing three soldiers. In retaliatory firing by the SFs, 22 militants were killed and scores of others sustained injuries.

SFs intensified military operation in the FR Bannu and targeted the Taliban positions with jet fighters, gunship choppers and artillery in Janikhel and Zaidi Akbar Khan areas, killing 50 more militants. Official sources said more than 150 militants had been killed in the three-day military offensive. The military launched the operation on June 9 after expiry of the deadline for Janikhel and Bakakhel tribal leaders to hand over the militants wanted by the Government for kidnapping of students and teachers of Razmak Cadet College.

The SFs shelled suspected hideouts of the militants in Janikhel and Zaidi Akbar Khan with artillery from the Bannu Cantonment while gunship choppers and jet fighters also strafed the militants' locations in these areas. The gunship helicopters and jetfighters also bombed the Taliban hideouts in the precincts of Sra Dargah and Haved Police station while massive shelling was carried out in Zaidi Akbar Khan area. At least, 50 militants were killed in the daylong military offensive in the region.

SFs in a convoy on the Bannu-Miranshah road and Bannu city opened fire on a man for violating curfew, killing him on the spot. Sources added that a rocket shell fired by the militants from an unknown location landed in the fields in Abadkhel area. The shell, however, caused no loss of life or damage to property. The Bannu Police also recovered another shell from the fields in Kachkot Asad Khan.

People continued migrating to safer places in Peshawar, Rawalpindi and other cities from the Janikhel, Bakakhel and other areas of Bannu.

SFs killed five militants during an encounter in the Kambar area of Dir Lower district, while two children were killed in fighting between the armed Lashkar (militia) of villagers and militants in Dir Upper District. Official sources claimed that SFs were carrying out a search operation when a group of militants confronted them. They said the ensuing encounter between the two sides continued for quite a while that left five of the attackers dead.

The Pakistan Air Force warplanes fired missiles on suspected hideouts of militants in the Shatkas area of Doog Darra in Dir Upper district. In addition, four suspected members of a banned militant outfit were captured by the Lashkar from Patrak area early in the morning.

The NWFP Minister for Prisons, Mian Nisar Gul Kakakhel, was seriously injured in an armed attack near the Friendship Tunnel in the Darra Adamkhel area, while two of his security guards and an attacker were killed in the exchange of fire. The minister, who is a resident of Karak District, was on his way to Peshawar when his motorcade was attacked in Darra Adamkhel. Three masked men opened fire at his car near Spina Thana of Akhurwal area, some 35 kilometers from Peshawar. Consequent to the exchange of fire, Security Forces launched a search operation in Akhurwal area and targeted the surrounding mountaintops in Akhurwal and Sanikhel areas with heavy artillery.

A man was killed and 13 others, including nine Policemen, sustained injuries in a hand grenade-cum-suicide attack on a Police party in the Lateefabad area on Ring Road in Peshawar. Capital City Police Officer Safwat Ghayyur told the media that a Police party was on a routine duty on Ring Road in the jurisdiction of Faqirabad Police station when unknown miscreants hurled a hand grenade at the Policemen, injuring one of them. Even as reinforcements were being called for, a suicide bomber came near a Police pick-up and blew himself up. The blast destroyed two Police mobiles, a rickshaw and a motorcycle. Personnel of the Bomb Disposal Squad also recovered a pressure cooker and explosive material from the nearby fields. Talking to a private news channel, the NWFP Information Minister Mian Iftikhar Hussain linked the incident to the military operation in Waziristan.

In another incident in the provincial capital, two suspects were killed and six others arrested as Policemen and troops deployed at the Peshawar Corps Commander's House foiled a terrorist attack in the high security zone on Peshawar's Khyber Road. Citing witnesses, a television channel said two suspects riding a motorbike attempted to enter the Corps Commander's House and fired at the security officials on being stopped. According to the channel, two other gunmen, also on motorbikes, followed the first pair. Two suspects were killed in the ensuing encounter, the channel said. The Peshawar Police chief confirmed the killings but declined to comment further. Talking to reporters, he said the Security Forces had not suffered any casualties, and that they were clearing the area. A channel said an explosion was also heard before the gunfight.

An unidentified motorcyclist lobbed a hand grenade on people in Topawala Bazaar in Dera Ismail Khan injuring 21 persons. The man attacked civilians near the Jadeed Cloth House around 11:55am, Police said.

Police arrested 29 Taliban militants from various parts. A top Taliban 'commander', identified as Qari Khursheed, and his accomplices were arrested from Nowshera District. Khursheed is reported to have confessed to his involvement in various terrorist activities. Meanwhile, law enforcement agencies arrested a trainer of suicide bombers from Kohat bypass road and took him to an undisclosed location for interrogation while 25 trained terrorists were also arrested in a search operation in the Dera Bandai area of Kohat District.

The Pakistan Air Force jet fighters started bombing suspected locations of Taliban militants in the Orakzai Agency in FATA and the adjoining Hangu District in NWFP, killing 33 persons, including the Sunni Supreme Council chief Maulana Muhammad Amin and his nephew, and injuring 29 others. The local officials, however, put the death toll in the two regions at 50, including women and children. The warplanes targeted militants' positions in Mushti Bazaar, Mushti Mela, Ferozkhel, Sheikhan, Dabori, Ghiljo, Khadeezai, Shahuwam and Sultanzai. 26 people were reportedly killed and 13 others injured in the daylong bombing in these villages of Orakzai Agency.

39 militants and 10 soldiers were killed in clashes between the SFs and Taliban militants in the Swat valley. A news update issued by the ISPR on the ongoing military operations in Swat and other adjoining mountainous areas, said 10 soldiers were killed and 24 others sustained injuries during the operation. SFs reportedly secured and consolidated their positions at Chuprial near Matta sub-division. During the process of consolidation, an encounter took place between the two sides in which eight soldiers died and 13 others were wounded. In retaliation, the SFs killed 39 militants and their bodies were reportedly lying at the encounter site. Further, while securing areas around Kabal sub-division, two soldiers were killed and eight injured in an exchange of fire between the two sides. Casualties suffered by the Taliban could not be ascertained. In addition, militants also targeted the SFs near Charbagh, injuring three soldiers.

18 militants were killed as SFs continued their operations in the Janikhel and Hindikhel areas of Bannu District on the fourth consecutive day. Sources said SFs entered the Hindikhel area after clearing Sra Dargah area of the militants. "At least, 18 militants were killed in the daylong clashes in different areas of the semi-tribal region," the sources said, adding the troops faced stiff resistance in Hindikhel. The SFs also targeted militants' positions with artillery from the Bannu Cantonment. Official sources claimed that over 200 militants had been killed in the four-day operation. The military launched the operation on June 9-morning after the expiry of the deadline given to Janikhel and Bakakhel tribal leaders to hand over the militants wanted by the Government for the kidnapping of students and teachers of the Razmak Cadet College.

SFs allegedly shot dead a mentally challenged person, identified as Misal Khan of Haveed, when a military convoy was passing through the area. Further, 40year-old Mumtaz Khan was critically injured when hit by a stray bullet in the Muslimabad area of Bannu.

Five worshippers were killed and 105 others sustained injuries when a suicide bomber rammed his explosives-laden van into a mosque during the Friday prayers in the Cantonment area of Nowshera. Sources said the congregation was in the second Rakat (part) when the bomber in the vehicle, carrying 125 kilograms of explosives, struck the wall of the mosque near the Army Supply Depot. Two soldiers were among the four persons killed on the spot while 105 persons, including 30 civilians, were injured in the explosion. Most of the wounded were reportedly Army personnel. One of those wounded succumbed to his injuries at the hospital. While the blast brought down the entire structure of the mosque, windowpanes and doors of nearby buildings were smashed and walls cracked, injuring several persons, including women and children.

Four Police personnel were killed and six others injured by two remote-controlled bomb attacks in the Hangu District. In the first incident, suspected militants targeted a Police van in the Tull sub-division with an improvised explosive device, fitted in a pressure cooker. The blast killed four Policemen. In a second incident, militants reportedly attempted to attack another Police van with a remote controlled bomb in the Dawaba Police station precincts. However, the Police van narrowly escaped the blast.

A girl was injured when a mine exploded at a mountain in the Doog Darra area of Dir Upper District, where a local Lashkar (militia) was struggling to dislodge the militants from their last hilltop hideout despite heavily-pounding their position. The girl, whose name could not be immediately ascertained, was hit by the mine when she was roaming in the mountains of Shatkas area in Doog Darra. A Lashkar member said on June 11 that the militants, who had been pushed to their last hideout on a mountain in Kandao area of Ghazigay village, had planted mines to stop the advances of the Lashkar.

The Taliban militants could not fight the Lashkar and retreated deep into the mountains along the Chitral District to escape. However, the armed villagers have reportedly blocked all escape routes of the militants. The locals said the Lashkar continued to pound the Taliban hideout in Kandao. Lashkar sources and locals said the militia was struggling to dislodge the militants from this hideout because it was situated on a hilltop and the Taliban had dug up a cave there. The locals and Police sources said the firing continued, but no casualties were reported from either side.

SFs claimed to have destroyed the hideouts of militants and their explosive factories besides arresting 10 suspected militants during a search operation in Darra Adamkhel. Sources said the SFs launched a search operation against the militants in Akhorwal area of the gun manufacturing town of Darra Adamkhel. The paramilitary forces are reported to have initiated action against the militants after the assassination attempt on NWFP Minister for Prisons, Mian Nisar Gul Kaka Khel, in the Akhorwal area. During the search operation, SFs cordoned off the area and arrested 10 suspected militants from the area. Houses of four militants identified as Shams, Inayat, Ibrahim and Shahid were also blown up in Akhorwal. Shams and Inayat were accused of providing monetary and armed assistance to the militants.

SFs killed 41 Taliban militants in military operations in the Malakand Division and Bannu, the ISPR said. The ISPR also said a soldier was killed and seven others were injured in the fighting. SFs continued conducting search operations in Mingora and seized a cache of arms, night vision goggles and other equipment abandoned by the Taliban militants. Two terrorists were also arrested during the search operation. Troops also secured the Karakar pass linking Buner with Swat. In Bannu, SFs secured Zindi Akbar Khan, FC Fort Jani Khel and Marwat Canal, the ISPR said, adding that 35 terrorists had been killed in the operation in various areas of Bannu District. In the past few days, Pakistan launched strikes on Taliban militants across the NWFP, most notably in Bannu District at the gateway to Waziristan, where according to the military more than 130 militants were killed since June 9.

Two persons were killed and six others wounded when a roadside bomb targeting a Police vehicle exploded at Kohat. "A policeman and a civilian were killed in an improvised explosive device blast and six others, five policemen and one civilian, were injured," Kohat police chief Dilawar Khan Bangash told.

35 more militants were killed in fresh action by the troops in the Bannu District. It said the SFs, continuing their operations against the Taliban, had bombarded suspected militant hideouts from Janikhel Fort. The ISPR also said one soldier was killed and three injured in an exchange of fire with militants in the Kabal sub-division of Swat District. Further, Taliban militants in the Kala Kale are injured another soldier. A cordon-and-search operation is reportedly continuing in the Loe Namal, Kuz Shaur and Matta areas of Swat, the statement added.

In Darra Adamkhel, helicopter gunships attacked militants' hideouts in the Shni Kalay area. There were, however, no reports about casualties. The strike followed a clash between two groups of militants. The helicopters hit militants' positions in the Tor Chappar, Bostikhel and Shni Kalay areas considered to be strongholds of the Darra Adamkhel chapter of TTP headed by Tariq Afridi. A clash between the Afridi group and followers of pro-government Momin Khan took place after the latter reportedly kidnapped two supporters of the former. The Tariq Afridi group had earlier claimed responsibility for the suicide attacks at the Pearl Continental hotel in Peshawar on June 9 and on a police check-post on June 12. Earlier this year, the same group had reportedly abducted and later beheaded a Polish geologist.

A Policeman and a passerby were killed and 20 people were injured when a bomb detonated by remote control hit a Police bus on the University Road in Kohat.

Nine people were killed and more than 40 others wounded when a in a bomb blast at a busy market in Dera Ismail Khan. Sources said the bomb, weighing five kilograms and apparently planted on a cycle cart, exploded in the busy Tejarat Gunj Bazaar. The blast also destroyed the windowpanes of the nearby shops and houses. No one has claimed responsibility for the blast.

14 Taliban militants were reportedly killed in the Dir Lower and Upper Districts while SFs. Sources said nine suspected Taliban militants were killed in Dir Lower and five in Dir Upper, respectively. SFs, the sources said, killed nine militants during a search operation in Galgut area of Maidan. They said a soldier was also killed and five others injured in the encounter. The ISPR said the Lashkar (militia) killed five militants and injured six others in Dir Upper. Sources in the area confirmed that three houses owned by Kashar Khan, Nawaz and Omar were destroyed in Shatkas area when the armed villagers targeted the locations of the militants. They said about four to five militants were killed.

In the Jani Khel area of Bannu District, Taliban fired rockets at a Police station and an airport. "Seven Taliban were killed in the retaliatory attack," said Zahinuddin, a local Police official.

Two guards of the nephew of veteran politician Afzal Khan Lala were killed in the Swat Valley.

The SFs also consolidated their positions and continued search operations in Godhand Banda and Arkot in Swat, Matta and Aligrama. They also directed the displaced people of Kalam to report to Besham for transportation back to their homes.

The SFs had launched an operation on April 26 to defeat the militants in the Maidan area of Dir Lower district. The troops claim to have killed hundreds of militants and secured most areas in Maidan. Troops are now reportedly engaged in the mopping up operation in the area to end resistance.

SFs claimed to have killed 15 militants, including a key foreign commander, in the Bajaur Agency of FATA and Dir Lower District in the NWFP. Sources told that the SFs heavily shelled positions of the militants in the Charmang area of Nawagai sub-division with artillery from Khar, headquarters of the Bajaur Agency, Loisam and Tank Khatta camps, destroying several hideouts in the area. An important foreign commander, known as Goraila, and three local militants were killed in the action. SFs cleared the area of the militants and took control of the key locations in Charmang, the stronghold of the militants. Troops also launched a search operation during which five rocket shells were recovered, which were defused by a special squad. Two remote-controlled bombs were also defused during the Security Forces' advance towards Charmang.

In Dir Lower, the SFs claimed to have killed 11 militants in the Maidan area of the District. Eleven militants were killed late on June 15-night, when the Taliban hideouts in Kulaldherai, Galgut, Hayaserai and Kas Laghrai areas were targeted with artillery, sources said. The sources said four persons were injured in the artillery shelling by SFs when their house was hit by a shell.

Due to prolonged curfew hours and violence in the Malakand region, the social and economic life in the district has reportedly been paralysed. There is an acute shortage of daily use commodities and life-saving drugs in the area as supply to the markets and shops remained disrupted for hours, the sources added. Most of the people who wanted to travel to and from Timergara were stranded in the Malakand Agency due to closure of roads.

The SFs captured and destroyed a training facility of the Taliban at Balasar-Chuprial in Swat District, having 120 feet long tunnels, firing range and training area. A terrorist, Shah Sultan, who was an expert in suicidal jackets making, was killed in the Charbagh area. Further, during a search operation three terrorists were arrested at Salhand near Fizagat. On a tip off two vehicles prepared for suicide mission were recovered and destroyed at Dangram. The SFs also destroyed two tunnels at Loi Numalin, Peuchar Valley and two at Rampatai. A huge cache of arms and ammunitions was recovered during a search operation in Gokand Banda, Sersenai, Khairabad and Ghodanbanda.

Two Policemen were killed and three injured when Taliban militants attacked a Police check-post in Mardan. According to Police officials, the militants opened fire on the Kharkai check-post, killing Policemen Sakhi Jan and Nazir on the spot, while three others were injured.

While armed villagers in the Dir Upper District killed six holed up Taliban militants in the Doog Darra area, the Army claimed to have killed 22 more militants in the adjacent Dir Lower and Swat Districts during the ongoing Operation Rah-e-Rast.

Locals said a cave in the Kandao area of Ghazigay village, where the armed villagers have surrounded the Taliban, was heavily shelled from Panakot and Beranjo. SFs have deployed artillery guns in these areas to target the positions of the militants to soften targets for the Lashkar (militia), which is reportedly using heavy weapons. The armed villagers' advance was reported to have been blocked by mines, allegedly planted by the Taliban in the area. Locals said six militants were killed in artillery shelling from Panakot, a distant area located four kilometers north of Dir town. A resident of Shatkas said six militants had been killed near the Ghazigay mosque.

In Dir Lower, located in the south of Dir Upper District, the ISPR claimed that SFs had killed 20 Taliban militants. The ISPR said troops carried out a search operation in the Galgut area of Maidan and killed 20 militants during a clash, besides recovering a cache of arms and ammunition. It said 15 others were arrested.

In the Swat Valley, SFs killed two militants, including a 'commander'. The military said they took action on a tip-off about the presence of Qari Junaid, an important Taliban 'commander' in Madain, and his colleague Naeem. Sources from Mingora town said two bodies, probably of the militants, were lying at the Sohrab Chowk. SFs also launched an operation at Shamozai and Akhun Killay. Separately, the militants fired at a SFs communication maintenance party near Doshagram (Fatehpur), which caused injuries to a soldier. Further, in the Matta sub-division, a huge cache of arms and ammunition was recovered during a clearance operation in Matta and Nazarabad. Two hideouts of the militants were destroyed during a search operation in Kasuna area and one militant was arrested from Bedara area. Doghlar, the ISPR said, was secured.

Police arrested three suspected terrorists, including two would-be suicide bombers, in Rawalpindi; a suspected Taliban militant from a mosque in Peshawar's Kissa Khawani Bazaar; and a terrorist from the LeJ group in Karachi. Police also seized a suicide jacket, a hand grenade, two pistols, 90 rounds and two kilograms of explosives. The man arrested in Karachi - identified as Irfan Islam alias Lamba - was wanted by the Police and his name was listed in its Red Book for 2009.

The Peshawar International Airport was shut down after an intelligence report warned of a terrorist attack on aircraft by a militant group based in the tribal region, officials said. The Civil Aviation Authority issued a notice to airmen to alert them of hazards en route or at a specific location in the night of June 16 and cabled all national and international carriers to stop their flights to the airport. An unnamed official said the airport would remain closed till June 18-night, but the notice implied that the move was for an indefinite period.

SFs killed 34 more Taliban militants in the ongoing operation in the Swat and Dir Upper Districts, while seven others were arrested, the ISPR said. The SFs continued action against the Maulana Fazlullah-led militants in Kabal sub-division of Swat even as the militants are still offering some resistance in the area. SFs are reported to have secured the area around Bridge-II, Kabal and Kotlai. During clashes in these areas, the ISPR said 12 militants were killed while five soldiers sustained injuries. Further, six militants were killed in the Totano Banda area of Kabal during an operation launched for the consolidation of SFs positions. In the Shamozai area of Swat valley, the troops commenced an operation for clearing the area and killed 10 Taliban militants. According to the ISPR, 28 militants were killed in the Swat Valley.

In Mingora, SFs carried out clearance operation around the town and recovered 15 rifles and arrested five suspected militants, including Mohtamim of Madrassa Faiz, during the search operation at Shahpur. The troops also arrested two suspected militants from the Shewa area of Dir Lower District and recovered one light machine gun, 60 rounds, one TT pistol and one binocular. The ISPR claimed that SFs conducted a search operation in the Nimazgai area of Dir Upper District and killed six militants during an exchange of fire.

More than 1,400 militants and 120 soldiers have been killed during the 54-day operation in Swat and the nearby Dir Lower and Buner districts.

A private TV channel quoted Defence Minister Ahmad Mukhtar as saying that the military offensive in Swat is nearly over and the Government has achieved its targets. Talking to the channel, Mukhtar said internally displaced persons would be able to return homes by June 20.

SFs detained 105 suspects, including 12 militants, during a search operation in different areas of Darra Adamkhel and Kohat in the NWFP. According to sources, SFs launched an extensive search operation in different areas of Darra Adamkhel, including Bostikhel, Akhorwal, Tor Chapper, Sheraki and Sanikhel, following the militants attack on a security check-post in Sheraki. The troops used heavy weapons and ammunition in hitting the hideouts of the militants in the areas. The gunship helicopters also took part in the operation and two compounds of the militants were reportedly destroyed. SFs claimed to have arrested 105 suspects, including 12 militants, in the operation. The arrested suspects were affiliated with the TTP Tariq and Momin Khan Afridi's outfits, the sources said.

11 Taliban militants were killed in the Doog Darra area of Dir Upper District by armed villagers and artillery shelling by the SFs as the militants started fleeing the area after giving up resistance. Further, the Chitral Police arrested 10 fleeing militants, including an Afghan national, who was in an injured condition, when they sneaked into the District to escape the operations.

The armed villagers have reportedly ringed the Taliban militants, led by Afghan commander Amir Khitab, since June 6 in the mountains of Doog Darra. They were heavily targeting the positions of the Taliban militants and killed a number of them. Helping the Lashkar (militia), SFs deployed artillery guns in Panakot area near the Dir town and Beranjo in Doog Darra. The locals said firing with heavy weapons by the Lashkar and artillery shelling panicked the holed-up militants. Sources in Lashkar and locals said the militants were attempting to escape the intensified action. Mutabar Khan, the Lashkar chief, said they believe 80-100 militants had been left in the area, adding that they were just 400 meters away from them. The Lashkar has so far reportedly killed at least 36 militants.

Security Forces said that they had killed four more Taliban militants and arrested two in the ongoing operation in Malakand, while one soldier was injured in the fighting. The SFs are reported to have secured Akhun Kalle and established a check-post in the Swat's Chungai area. The troops also launched an operation to clear areas around Zara Khela, Khawazakhela and Matta, and seized three rifles. The army conducted a search operation in Buner's Sar Qila area, and successfully secured Mohmand Gate, Nawapass, Ghungat, Kuz and Chamarkand in Mohmand Agency.

SFs killed four militants in Buner district and were consolidating their positions in parts of the Swat Valley. The ISPR said SFs clashed with militants in Sar Qilla area during a search operation. Four militants, it claimed, were killed during an exchange of fire.

10 families, including that of Afzal Khan Lala, veteran leader of the ruling Awami National Party, are reported to have returned to Swat.

Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani announced a package of over PKR 24 billion for capacity building and strengthening of Police and law-enforcement agencies (LEAs) in the NWFP. Addressing Members of Provincial Assembly of the ruling alliance at the Governor's House in Peshawar, Gilani stressed the importance of well-equipped, trained and highly motivated LEAs to ensure durable peace and stability in the province after completion of the military operation under way in the tribal belt and Swat. The package is to be utilised for recruiting additional Police and LEA personnel and acquiring sophisticated weapons. The package will be delivered in installments, each tranche comprising PKR six billion would be handed over to the NWFP after every six months.

SFs claimed to have killed seven more Taliban militants in various parts of Swat District, even as thousands of internally displaced families were awaiting the Government's call for return to their native villages. In a statement, the ISPR said during an exchange of fire at Langer in Khwazakhela, a militant was killed and six others arrested, while 15 sub-machine guns, one sniper rifle, one 8MM rifle, communication gadgets and grenades were also recovered. SFs, it claimed, successfully secured the areas around Peuchar, Kharkai, Kharkarai and Biha.

An encounter took place between the two sides in Biha in which six militants were killed and 10 others arrested. The troops also recovered 20 machine guns, G-3 rifles, two rocket launchers with seven rockets, 12x12 bore rifles, two grenades and 6,000 rounds of SMGs and two other rifles.

The militants attacked a vehicle of the SFs on the Dakorak-Allahbad Road, causing injuries to five soldiers.

SFs secured the areas around Barko Sar, Roringar, Nalkot, Wenai, Bartana and Pushtunai and also set up a check-post at Akhun Killay, Dadhran Road.

The SFs killed six militants and suffered four casualties, besides injuries to eight others, in parts of the Swat Valley. The ISPR said militants attacked positions of the SFs in Shahdand Banda, Dewlai and Totano Banda. "Six terrorists were killed during the exchange of fire," the ISPR said in its daily update to the media. It said SFs secured Kotlai, Chungai and Zarakhela areas in Kabal sub-division and started action in the Dagai area. One soldier sustained injuries during the exchange of fire with the militants. "Terrorists ambushed security forces' vehicle on the Odigram-Akhun Killay Road. As a result, three soldiers embraced martyrdom and seven others sustained injuries".

SFs have reportedly commenced a clearance operation from Malakand to Thana in the nearby Malakand Agency. During the operation, the troops clashed with some militants and in an exchange of fire a soldier was killed.

The ISPR claimed that three terrorists, including a brother of militant commander Yousuf, were arrested after an exchange of fire around Peuchar. Four tunnels were destroyed, it added. The SFs also cleared Babu and Shakardarra villages. Three militants were apprehended in the area and three improvised explosive devices were defused.

Seven suspected militants were killed in a clash with a Lashkar (the village militia) in Patrak area of Upper Dir District in NWFP. Local people said the clash took place in Shekhan Khwar near Patrak. However, some of them said that 10 militants arrested earlier by Chitral Police had been handed over to the Lashkar. Two of those killed were identified as Fatehzar and his son Dilaram. One militant was injured and another reportedly ran away. After the incident, 20 militants came out in Bar Doog area and set ablaze 130 logs owned by local people. They also torched a house and abducted a man identified as Faqir Gul Mulla.

Five Taliban militants were killed and two soldiers were wounded in the Dir Lower District.

June 22

The ISPR Director-General Major General Athar Abbas said at a media briefing in Islamabad that the SFs are in the final phase of eliminating terrorist hideouts and camps in Swat. Abbas said: "In the north, Biha Valley — the last stronghold of terrorists — has been fully secured and in the west, Shamozai area is being cleared. Search operations are being carried out in the secured areas to ensure that they are safe for the return of the internally displaced persons (IDPs)."

The military spokesman said various search and cordon operations were conducted by security forces whereby neutralising a number of IEDs and destroying a number of small and big tunnels, while 22 more terrorists were killed and five others were arrested in Malakand. He said 14 terrorists were killed by the SFs during the ‘link up operation’ at the Shamozai Bridge, while eight large size IEDs planted by terrorists were also neutralised. The SFs successfully secured Biha Valley and also cleared Bartana South of Chuprial. He said three small size tunnels were destroyed at Loi Namal while locals handed over a terrorist to the troops at Bahrain while four others were arrested at Wanai Bridge, Shalkosar, Bashkhela and Drushkhela.

Athar Abbas said so far 1,592 terrorists had been killed in the operation while 60 to 70 others had been arrested, who were being interrogated. He said the arrested terrorists also included Afghans and Uzbeks.

Three persons, including two women, were killed and another sustained injuries when a rocket hit a house in Zardad Killay in the jurisdiction of Hovaid Police Station of Bannu District. Sources said two rockets were fired by unidentified miscreants from an undisclosed location at 5:30 pm. While one rocket fell in the field the other hit the house of Manzoor at Zardad Killay, killing Fazlur Rehman and the wife of Ahmed Ali on the spot while Asiba Bibi and Gul Hatima sustained injuries.

Taliban militants are reported to have blown up a girls’ school in Peshawar, the NWFP capital. A police official in Peshawar said that four relatively minor blasts followed one another in quick succession and completely destroyed the two-room school building.

Two Policemen were killed and seven people, including three Policemen, sustained injuries when a suicide bomber rammed his explosive-laden vehicle into the Thakot Police check-post in Battagram District, completely destroying the check-post. "An explosion occurred in a small truck when it reached the Dandai bridge in Shangla district (of Swat) … it was a suicide attack," said Gul Wali Khan, the District Police chief in Shangla, told. The attack was the first-ever suicide attack in Battagram District.

June 23

Six militants were killed in the Shadas village of Maidan area in Lower Dir District when gunship helicopters targeted the house of a local Taliban commander, identified as Miftahud Din alias Shabar. Shabar is blamed for attacking convoys of the SFs in Shadas, Kala Dag and Hayaserai areas. In addition, heavy artillery and mortar shelling from Timergara, Islam Dara and Samar Bagh also continued. SFs also targeted militants’ positions in Shadas, Safaray and Tabo villages in Maidan. However, no casualty was reported in the shelling.

The SFs continued search operations in different villages of Adenzai sub-division and also imposed a curfew in Chakdara. So far 25 suspected militants or their relatives had been arrested in Adenzai, said a security official.

Five army men, including a major, a captain and three jawans, were killed when a unit of the Baloch Regiment was ambushed at Charbagh in the Malakand Division. According to the ISPR, the troops were returning after a search operation when the incident took place at 7pm.

The News reported that Maulana Shah Dauran, deputy leader of the Taliban in Swat District, was injured after a military operation against the militants. Official sources said he was among several militants hit during a military attack in the Kabal area of Swat. The Maulana belonged to Qambar village near Mingora town. He ran a madrassa (seminary) in his village and led prayers in the mosque before joining Maulana Fazlullah’s group. Dauran was deputy head of the Swat unit of the banned TTP. The NWFP Government had earlier announced a PKR 10 million reward for information leading to the capture, dead or alive, of Shah Dauran.

SFs are reportedly carrying out search and sweep operations in various parts of the Swat valley in the final phase of the military operation, the ISPR said. It said that in the last 24 hours, the SFs had arrested three Taliban militants during a search operation in Mangai and recovered some arms and ammunition.

A Taliban commander from South Waziristan opposed to the TTP chief Baitullah Mehsud and part of an apparent plan to isolate the leader of the Pakistan Taliban from his tribesmen ahead of a likely military operation in the area was shot dead. Qari Zainuddin, a 26-year-old Mehsud tribesman, who led his own group of militants, was shot dead by an unidentified gunman in his office in Dera Ismail Khan in the NWFP, from where he had recently given interviews to Pakistani and international media denouncing Baitullah Mehsud as an "agent" of America and India. Qari Zainuddin, leader of the Abdullah Group, was shot dead by his guard, Gulbuddin Mehsud, Police official Salahuddin told reporters. "We confirm that Qari Zainuddin is dead," he said. "We were asleep after morning prayers when Gulbuddin opened fire, killing Zainuddin on the spot," Kamal Mehsud, one of Zainuddin’s guards, said. The assailant escaped in the ensuing confusion, he added. Officials gave no motive for the killing, but Zainuddin’s aide Baz Muhammad, who witnessed the attack, told AFP the gunman was "an agent of Baitullah Mehsud", acting on the orders of the Al Qaeda-linked warlord. "It was definitely Baitullah’s man who infiltrated our ranks, and he has done his job," he told Associated Press, vowing to avenge the death. Sources said that Misbahuddin Mehsud, Zainuddin’s younger brother, had been nominated as the new chief of the Abdullah Group. However, the group made no formal announcement in this regard.

June 24

SFs killed seven more Taliban militants in clashes in parts of the Dir and Swat Districts, while six soldiers, including two officers, were also killed. Six militants were killed in a search operation at Kota in Dir, and seven others were arrested, the ISPR said. Further, the SFs carried out a search and sweep operation at Charbagh and Mangaltan, where two officers – Major Attique and Captain Amir – and four soldiers died and three were injured. In addition, a militant was killed in a clearance operation on a tip off in Sakhra, and three stolen vehicles and weapons were seized. Separately, the troops arrested a local Taliban commander Alamgir and his father in Gwalerai. The SFs have reportedly consolidated their positions in Kabal, Akhun Kalle, Dadhrah, Khazna and Gardi.

Three Policemen, including an officer, were killed when some miscreants fired rockets and mortar shells at the Arbab Tapu check-post in the jurisdiction of Matani Police Station of provincial capital Peshawar. The platoon commander, Sub-Inspector Nooran Shah, along with Constables Faqir Muhammad and Zardad Khan, were on duty at the Arbab Tapu check-post between Peshawar and Darra Adamkhel when five mortar shells and rockets hit the picket around 3:00 am. The rockets killed all the three policemen and destroyed the small building located on the main Indus Highway, around 25 kilometers from Peshawar. Even as the Policemen retaliated the attackers managed to flee.

One member each from the Baitullah and Abdullah Mehsud groups - rival Taliban factions - were killed in a clash at Tank bazaar in the Tank District of NWFP. The slain militants were identified as Yusuf and Zahir Khan. A shopkeeper was also reportedly injured in the fighting.

June 25

Militants killed a Policeman after kidnapping him in the Buner District. Israr Bacha, of the Daggar Police Station, was abducted by militants while he was on his way home in Elum. His bullet-riddled body was reportedly found that same evening in a deserted area nearby.

The SFs arrested three terrorists and seized arms and ammunitions, as four soldiers were injured in Malakand and Dir in the last 24 hours, the said. SFs conducted search and sweep operations in Akhun Kale, Gamon Bridge, Rangeela, Khazana, Wakilabad, Baiddarra and Garai areas and also arrested a suspected terrorist from Besham, it added. The troops also conducted search operations in areas around Zhoaib post and Lal Qila, adding that two soldiers were injured when one anti-personnel mine exploded, while another was injured by terrorists’ fire. The ISPR said the SFs also conducted search operations in Shewa, Utala and Adinzai areas, arresting two terrorists, including local commander Iqbal. It said the troops recovered a signal and communication device, two rifles, ammunition and two machine guns.

June 26

A militant commander was killed and two others sustained injuries during a search operation by the SFs in the Sheendand area of Kohat District. Sources said SFs launched a search operation in Turk Ismailkhel area of Sheendand and Jawakai and killed Abid Ramzai, commander of the TTP Darra Adamkhel unit and injured two others. One of them was identified as Jawwad. About 42 suspects were also arrested in the operation. Abid Ramzai along with two accomplices had escaped from Kohat jail sometime in 2008.

Suspected Taliban militants blew up a girls’ primary school on the outskirts of provincial capital Peshawar. There were, however, no casualties. An official from the Mattani Police Station said that three militants broke into Government Girls Model Primary School Ghaziabad in the Frontier Road area, tied up the guard and planted explosives on the premises. Four devices went off in quick succession, destroying the boundary wall and five of the six rooms in the building, said the official.

June 28

SF claimed to have arrested two local militant commanders and a suicide bomber trainer in the Swat Valley. The ISPR media update said SFs cleared the area around Kokarai and established a link up to Jambil. "Local militant commanders, identified as Akbar and Saleem and a suicide bomber trainer Abdul Rehman, were also arrested," it said, adding that an explosive-laden car and a rickshaw were also recovered from the Kokarai area. The SFs also recovered a huge cache of arms and ammunition, including IEDs from a graveyard in Garai, four kilometers northeast of Shamozai.

Troops continued shelling different parts of the Mingora city and demolished two houses of militants. Sources said a militant, Shaukat, was injured in the shelling on hideouts in the Islampura area. Sources said the SFs demolished houses and a shop of two militants, identified as Fazal Burhan and Behramand, in the Haji Baba area. However, there were no reports of casualties.

SFs demolished 12 houses of militants and arrested eight suspects in the Dir Lower District. Colonel Arshad, area in-charge of the operation in Dir Lower, said that SFs cleared the area from Gulabad to Anbar of the militants and demolished their 12 houses. He said the troops also arrested eight suspects and recovered a large quantity of weapons from their possession. In another operation, SFs raided the house of militant commander Naik Ikhtiar in the Tazagram area of Adinzai sub-division and recovered hundreds of sacks of wheat and other goods of the World Food Programme. The house of another militant commander Junaid was also reportedly destroyed in the same area.

The Police claimed to have arrested the mastermind of the bombing of shrines in the NWFP, along with his associate. Sources said the mastermind, identified as Qari Roohullah, a resident of Tarha village in Battagram, was arrested from Shabqadar area in Charsadda District, along with his accomplice Said Badshah. He was the Pesh Imam (chief priest) of a mosque in the same village and involved in bomb blasts on mausoleums of saints, sources added. The accused is reportedly affiliated with the Qari Shakeel Group, a splinter group of militants based in the Mohmand Agency. District Police Officer Muhammad Riaz (DPO) said the accused was arrested following investigation from the already detained militants. The DPO added that so far the District Police had arrested around 100 dangerous militants.

The Federal Interior Minister Rehman Malik said that the family of Mullah Fazlullah had been detained and they were being treated in a respectable manner and not being manhandled.

SFs claimed to have killed eight militants in the Khwazakhela area of Swat District. An ISPR statement said the SFs raided a compound in Khwazakhela, killing eight militants. Weapons and explosive devices were also recovered in the raid, it added. In addition, sources said SFs commenced search and clearance operations from Shalkosar to Jukhtai and Balasur to Shah Dherai, arresting an alleged militant, Muhammad Raheem, near Shangla. The SFs also demolished houses of two militant commanders in Barama area in the suburbs of Mingora city. The ISPR statement said that the main command structure of the militants had been dismantled and that recruits have either been killed or driven away, ammunition dumps and their headquarters at Peuchar, Chuprial, Matta, Khwazakhela, Mingora, Kabal, Banai Baba Ziarat, Sakhra, Saidu Sharif and Biha had been destroyed. The troops have also secured the area around Khazana and Zarakhela and were consolidating their positions in Kabal, Dhadara, Akhun Killay and Rangeela, it added.

Thousands of armed villagers in the mountainous Doog Darra area of Dir Upper District launched an intensified offensive against the holed up Taliban and killed two Afghan militants besides torching 30 houses of the Taliban and their supporters in Shatkas and Bar Doog villages. The militia suffered injuries to two of their volunteers as they were advancing towards the stronghold of the militants. Dozens of Afghan and non-local militants are beli