Pakistani authorities have released 12 Taliban prisoners in the restive Swat valley as a goodwill gesture in the wake of a peace deal signed by the North West Frontier Province government and religious hardliners.
A convoy of seven army trucks was stopped by armed Taliban militants at Qambar, a small town near Mingora, the main city in Swat valley, witnesses and Taliban spokesman Muslim Khan said. Witnesses said the convoy withdrew from Qambar after the Taliban forced the troops to go back, averting any clash.
Gaining an upper hand in the restive Swat valley in north-western Pakistan after signing of a deal with the authorities, an emboldened Taliban has told all Non Government Organisations working in the area to pack their bags, saying their activities are un-Islamic.
"We are troubled and confused in the sense about what happened in Swat, because it is not an encouraging trend," Richard Holbrooke, the Special US Representative for Pakistan and Afghanistan told the PBS news channel in an interview.
A hardliner religious leader led hundreds of his supporters in a peace march in the violence-hit north-western Swat valley in Pakistan on Wednesday apparently to convince the Taliban militants to honour a new pact reached with the government which envisages their laying down arms.
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The army said the militants were apprehended during a search and cordon operation at Kuza Bandai in Swat, where troops have been conducting a major operation since mid-November 2007 to quell the activities of pro-Taliban cleric Maulana Fazlullah and his followers.
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The 36-member all-women Special Weapons And Tactics team has been trained by the National Security Guard for anti-terrorism duty under the Delhi Police's Special Cell.
A suicide bomber blew himself up in a busy market in the troubled Swat valley in northwest Pakistan on Saturday, killing at least three persons and injuring 12 others, police said.
Muslim Khan and senior Taliban commander Mehmood Khan, for whom authorities had offered rewards of Rs 10 million each, were arrested by security forces 'in a successful operation in Swat'
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Members of the banned Jaish-e-Mohammed and militants from South Waziristan tribal region are fighting alongside some 5,000 Taliban fighters in Pakistan's restive Swat valley, chief military spokesman Major General Athar Abbas said on Friday.
Four days after a peace pact was inked between religious hardliners and the North West Frontier Province government, leading cleric Maulana Sufi Mohammad is yet to make Taliban leaders accept the deal, to enforce Islamic laws in the violence-hit Swat valley.Mohammad, who has been holding talks with Taliban leaders, on Friday met its commander Maulana Fazlullah, who is his son-in-law, for direct talks as reports said the Taliban was demanding the withdrawal of security forces.
Congress spokesman Manish Tewari has expressed concern about the agreement between Pakistan and Taliban about the implementation of Shariat laws in the Swat region. Tewari was speaking at a press conference in New Delhi on Wednesday.
The Pakistani Taliban have taken control of mines producing precious lapis lazuli stones in the insurgency-hit Swat valley and started operating them on their own. The Taliban have confirmed that they took control of the mines two months ago, when they arrived in the hilly area of Fiza Ghat, a resort on the outskirts of Mingora, the main city in Swat valley. The militants have appointed hundreds of local labourers to work round the clock to excavate lapis lazuli stones.
Taliban forces in Pakistan have announced a ten-day ceasefire in the restive north western Swat valley, as peace talks between a senior cleric and local authorities are believed to have struck a deal to enforce Shariah laws in some parts of the region.The announcement of the truce came a day after a Chinese engineer, abducted by the Taliban six months back, was set free in Swat as a 'goodwill gesture'.
On Friday, May 3, 2024, the National Security Guard and the Delhi police conducted a security mock drill at the Parliament building. The primary objective of the drill was to assess and synchronise the readiness of the security forces to counter potential future threats effectively.
"Our peace pact agreement with the North West Frontier Province government practically stands dissolved", Taliban spokesman Muslim Khansaid and sought to put the onus on authorities saying "security forces are attacking us".
Facing a major Pakistani offensive, the retreating Taliban militants have carried out the gruesome beheading of a captured police official. The police found the decapitated body of a constable in a town in Swat valley, where for the last three months the Pakistan army is carrying out a flushing operation against the Taliban, officials were quoted by TV channels as saying. They said the police constable was kidnapped a week ago by militants.
Taliban cadres have been carrying out armed patrols on roads in Buner district and established a check post at Pacha Killay over the past few days, local residents were quoted as saying by The News daily.
A multi-layered security cover has been put in place to secure the historic Red Fort from where Prime Minister Narendra Modi will address the nation on the 75nd Independence Day on Sunday.
The military, which has accused the Taliban of violating the accord by abducting and killing civilians and security personnel, said it is awaiting instructions from the government for launching a full-fledged operation in the region located 160 km from Islamabad.
An editorial in a Pakistani daily has said that victory over the Taliban in the Swat and Malakand Divisions of the country's North West frontier Province can only be accepted and certified after it is confirmed that the top leadership of the insurgents is defeated and eliminated.
Pakistani troops on Sunday stepped up the crackdown on militants in a tribal region near Peshawar as the restive Swat valley bordering Afghanistan witnessed fresh violence that killed four people, including two soldiers who died in a bomb blast.
A suicide bomber rammed his explosives-laden vehicle into a security check-post in Pakistan's restive Swat valley on Saturday killing at least 10 people and injuring 13 others, a day after multiple blasts in Lahore claimed 45 lives.
'I hope the Centre and the states will both act in the spirit of cooperative federalism and find acceptable solutions without testing the law and the limits of each other's power.' 'This should not be considered a wrestling match.'
Extensive search operations are underway near Pandher village in Gurdaspur district of Punjab for the third day on Friday after locals claimed that two men in army fatigues were moving in a suspicious manner.
The Pakistani Taliban has staged a bloody comeback in Malakand division by killing three peace committee chiefs, reports Tahir Ali.
All borders of the national capital will be sealed for the entry of commercial and heavy vehicles by Thursday midnight apart from heavy police deployment, they said.
The wealthy landowners who turned the picturesque Swat Valley into a tourist paradise and who are considered to be economic pillars of the region are still shunning away from their native place. The wealthy, who own resorts and hotel and are people with huge land and orchard holdings, are staying away as they are still not confident that the army and authorities would provide them adequate security.
Islamic courts have started functioning in the Taliban stronghold of Swat in north-western Pakistan as per a peace deal signed by the government with militants in the restive region a month ago.
The security forces have cleared and secured the town of Mingora though they are still encountering pockets of militant resistance on the outskirts, chief military spokesman Major General Athar Abbas was quoted as saying by media reports.
Defence Minister A K Antony said on Friday that the truce between Pakistan and Taliban has added to India's "worries" over the security scenario in the region.
Ramandeep Singh showed great composure to settle under a high catch for the key wicket of SRH's Rahul Tripathi.
The ground reality is that the government of Pakistan has no choice but make the not-so-fine distinction to save their people getting killed as collateral damage when they fight the Taliban.
The bold abduction was carried out when the army and paramilitary forces had suspended operations to break the siege to rescue the trapped personnel, local police officials and TV channels reported. Taliban militants have overrun most of the Swat Valley, called the Switzerland of Pakistan and once the haunt of tourists and rich and this has triggered a massive exodus of residents.
IMAGES from Day 4 of the first Test played between India and New Zealand in Bengaluru, on Saturday.
Pakistani security forces claimed to have arrested 35 militants from various areas in the restive northern Swat valley, along with a would-be suicide bomber and cleric.
