The incident Saturday underscored a swing in the national mood toward a more
anti-Taliban stance —a shift that comes as suicide attacks have surged and the
military wages an offensive against the Taliban in the Swat Valley.
Some 400 villagers from neighboring Upper Dir district, where a suicide bomber
killed more then 30 worshippers at a mosque in the Haya Gai area on Friday,
formed a militia and attacked five villages in the nearby Dhok Darra area, said
Atif-ur-Rehman, the district coordination officer.
The citizens' militia has occupied three of the villages since Saturday and is
trying to push the Taliban out of the other two. Some 20 houses suspected of
harbouring Taliban were destroyed, he said. At least four militants were killed,
he said.
The government has in the past encouraged local citizens to set up militias,
known as lashkars, to oust Taliban fighters.
‘It is something very positive that tribesmen are standing against the
militants. It will discourage the miscreants,’ Rehman said.
The surge in suicide attacks reached Islamabad late Saturday when a man wearing
an explosive-laden jacket attacked a police compound but was shot down before he
could enter the main building. Two officers died and six others were wounded,
police said.
Meanwhile, Swat Taliban spokesman Muslim Khan claimed Sunday that authorities
killed the TNSM’s deputy chief, Maulana Mohammad Alam, and spokesman Amir Izzat
because US envoy Richard Holbrooke was visiting.
‘It is a gift the government has presented to Holbrooke,’ Khan told The
Associated Press via phone from an undisclosed location. ‘We believe that they
are martyred. |
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