Tide turns in Swat: Hundreds of armed villagers patrol former militant strongholds

[Naveed Yaseen]

Essa Khankhel
MINGORA: Hundreds of armed villagers, led by a person who is a victim of militants’ atrocities, patrolled the same road in Koza Banda, a former stronghold of militants, where they used to strut around and punish the local population.

The lashkar, comprising 600 members, also took action and recovered a huge quantity of stolen ghee, school furniture and other goods and a military jeep. The armed patrol and action by the villagers in the area is the manifestation of how the tide has been turned against the insurgents in Swat Valley.

“Koza Banda was like the garrison of Taliban,” said Sher Shah Khan, the chief of the lashkar and district president of PPP-Sherpao. The militants had killed the relatives of Sher Shah and destroyed his house situated in Koza Banda. Now he is living in Kanju Town. He said some 600 villagers armed with weapons of different kinds patrolled the two-kilometre area on the Segram Road in Koza Banda and also took action, recovering some stolen objects and weapons.

Satisfied with the military operation, he was upbeat that militants would never be able to return to the village. “Taliban cannot dare to appear in the village, let alone returning to the area,” he said, vowing armed action within an hour if militants entered Koza Banda.

The chief of the lashkar said volunteers were using their own resources and guns to guard their village, cleared of militants in the ongoing operation. A similar patrol with Sher Afzal Khan leading the lashkar was carried out in the adjacent Bara Banda village. The armed villagers also captured two militants and recovered as many Kalashnikov rifles.

A lashkar is also being raised in Shangwatai area of Matta, possibly today (Saturday). Meanwhile, the security forces arrested Fazl-e-Wahid, the driver of Fazlullah, from Koza Banda area and recovered a suicide jacket. He was believed to have been paid Rs150,000 salary a month. The Inter-Services Public Relations identified him as Abu Faraj and said he himself disclosed he was getting a huge salary.

Acting on information extracted from Faraj, the security forces recovered four improvised explosive devices and an explosive-filled geyser at Mahak near Shadand Banda. The ISPR claimed that 57 militants surrendered to the security forces while 13 others were arrested during search and clearance operations. It said 44 militants in Kanju, six in Sangota, three in Dewlai and four in Chuprial surrendered to the security forces. It said that 13 militants were arrested from Rema area near Bar Shawar of Matta and four from Mamdherai.

On the other hand, Shujaa Khanzada, a member of the Punjab Assembly, said the Punjab chief minister would construct a 150-bed hospital in Sangota area of Swat at a cost of Rs1.5 billion. He said the project would be completed in one year.

http://www.thenews.com.pk/daily_detail.asp?id=200115