August 01, 2008	Friday	Rajab 28, 1429

MINGORA, July 31: Mortar shells killed 18 civilians, including seven members of a family, and wounded 34 others in Swat’s Kabal tehsil on Thursday amid reports that the NWFP government has sought more troops to combat militancy in the area.

The Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR) claimed that 45 militants had been killed in gunbattles.

The fighting continued on Thursday night and security forces, backed by helicopter gunships and artillery, pounded militants’ hideouts in the Swat valley.

Local people said that a mortar shell hit the house of prayer leader Maulvi Fasihul Islam in Deolai area of Kabal, killing him and six members of his family.

Six civilians were killed in Shah Dheri and three in Matta tehsil. In Sumbat, a woman was killed and four others, two children among them, were injured when a shell hit the house of Naib Nazim Hussain Ali.

People in Bedara held a rally in protest against what they termed indiscriminate shellings. Nazim Hussain Ali accused the army of targeting innocent people, instead of militants.

About 30 people were injured in clashes and a curfew remained in force. The district administration has closed educational institutions for an indefinite period.

A resident of Matta said that 25 workers plucking peaches in orchards were wounded when helicopters fired on them on Wednesday. They were taken to a private hospital.

“We don’t know why are forces bombing civilians? Militants have taken positions, but helicopters are attacking residential areas,” he complained. According to reports reaching here, militants have blown up four bridges and cut down trees to block main roads.

People have complained that the exchange of fire between forces and the militants had damaged houses in several areas of Kabal, causing civilian casualties. They said they could not take the wounded people to hospitals because of the curfew and the blocking of roads by militants.

Militants set on fire a girls high school and two primary schools in Kishawara and Alam Gunj areas on Wednesday night. They also attacked a police station in Kabal but were repulsed by troops.

On Wednesday, the ISPR claimed that 25 militants had been killed in clashes, but the local authorities showed only eight bodies to media personnel on Thursday. They said the remaining bodies could not be retrieved because of continued fighting.

The whereabouts of 25 personnel, including paramilitary soldiers, kidnapped by the militants in Matta on Tuesday, are still unknown. The fresh operation was launched after militants had shot dead three officials of an intelligence agency.

ISPR Director General Maj-Gen Athar Abbas told Dawn on phone that the Frontier government had asked for additional troops. “The GHQ will consider the request,” he said, adding that the operation would continue till its ‘logical end’.

He said that 45 militants had been killed over the past two days.

Officials in Mingora said they had requested the government to send one more brigade.Provincial Information Minister Mian Iftikhar Hussain told Dawn that the district government had been authorised to call additional forces if the situation so required. Answering a question about the death of civilians, he said it was regrettable, adding that the government was left with no other option but to use force.