PESHAWAR, Nov 19: NWFP Governor Lt-Gen (retd) Ali Mohammad Jan Aurakzai on Monday said the government did not want to use excessive force in Swat.

But he warned that strong action would be taken against militants who resisted the government’s effort to restore its writ to the northern districts of the NWFP.

Mr Aurakzai told journalists after the ceremony at which the oath was administered to some ministers that efforts were being made to wrestle back the control of Alpuri, the district headquarters of Shangla, from militants.

He hoped that the military would be able to flush out militants from Alpuri in a couple of days. He said the security forces had taken up positions on high ground and were trying to minimise civilian casualties by targeting the militants’ hideout.

On the raging sectarian violence in the Kurram tribal region, Mr Aurakzai conceded that there was no apparent reason for the sudden flare-up there.

He, however, said the flare-up could either be due to the discovery of some beheaded bodies which might have angered the local population, meddling from outside or a tactic by militants to ease pressure in Swat and divert security forces attention to Kurram.

He said that efforts were being made to restore peace to Kurram and noted that except for some firing on Monday the situation was largely under the control of security forces.

He said a jirga of Sunni and Shia elders had been constituted in Hangu to broker peace in the adjoining tribal region.

Mr Aurakzai reiterated the government’s resolve to restore peace and establish the government’s writ in Swat and Shangla. He said that there could be some Uzbek militants from Uzbekistan in Swat. He said that 99 per cent of the population in Swat supported the government’s action.

He denied that the government had released Maulana Sufi Mohammad, leader of the defunct Tehrik Nifaz-i-Shariat Mohammadi, who is in jail since November 2001 for leading thousands of poorly-armed supporters across the border into Afghanistan to fight American forces.