September 10, 2008	Wednesday	Ramazan 09, 1429

MINGORA, Sept 9: Five people, including a politician’s relative, were killed in targeted attacks in Swat on Tuesday.

According to sources, mass exodus from upper Swat showed no sign of ending amid clashes between security forces and militants loyal to Maulana Fazlullah.

They said militants killed Mohammad Arif, nephew of the Swat chapter president of the Pakistan People’s Party (Sherpao), Sher Shah Khan, and his three guards when they were inspecting crops in Koza Banda, in Kabal tehsil.

Unidentified miscreants had torched four vacant houses and a cell of Sher Shah Khan and his brothers about a week ago. The villagers had vacated the houses for fear of militants’ reprisal.

In another incident, militants shot dead Sayed Rahat Ali, a close relative of Advocate Sayed Zahir Shah. Rahat was going to Mingora with a friend when militants intercepted them near Khwazakhela Chowk.

Sources said that it was an incident of target killing because the people of Shakardarra, led by Zahir Shah, had declared war against local Taliban. They had imposed a ban on the entry of the Taliban into their areas.

The people of Koza Bandai, Bara Bandai and other surrounding areas have vacated their houses and moved to safe places in the district. Most of the prominent families in Swat have already left the city and shifted to Mardan, Peshawar or Islamabad.

Meanwhile, two people were killed and two others sustained injuries when two groups within the Gujar tribe clashed over some petty issues in the Mandal Daag area.