October 18, 2007	Thursday	Shawwal 5, 1428

SWAT, Oct 17: The local police have re-established three key checkpoints to curb the entry of local militants into Mingora city with directives from senior officials to shoot at sight all those carrying weapons.

The personnel of Swat police backed by armoured personnel carriers (APCs) are posted at the checkpoints established at the three entry points to Mingora city — Kanju, Sangota and Balogram.

Police have been focusing on Mingora City while ignoring other areas of Swat district, especially Matta and Kabal, where members of a so-called volunteer force established by a cleric, Maulana Fazlullah, have regularly been patrolling.

A police official told Dawn that the personnel deputed at the checkpoints had been ordered to shoot all persons carrying arms.

“The main objective of this move is to check the movements of militants into the main city. At the next stage more checkpoints would be established to extend the influence of police to other areas,” he said.

These posts were abandoned a few weeks ago when there was a surge in incidents of targeting law-enforcement agencies in Swat district.

Police have now fortified the checkpoints and erected blockades.

On the other hand, Maulana Fazl told Dawn from his native village of Imam Dehri, where he also addressed hundreds of his supporters: “Our movement is peaceful and not violent and we are not against the police,” Maulana Fazlullah told Dawn.

He said that his volunteers had been patrolling areas where the law and order situation had deteriorated and police were confined to police stations.