November 02, 2008	Sunday	Ziqa'ad 3, 1429

MINGORA, Nov 1: At least 11 non-combatants were killed in Swat in shelling by security forces on Saturday, locals alleged.

Security forces, however, denied the report and claimed that only militants had been targeted.

The locals told Dawn that “tragedy” struck “scores of civilians” who were waiting in the Venai village of Matta Tehsil for a curfew to be lifted. The curfew had been clamped on the area recently after an attack by militants on a checkpost.

While security forces were pounding militants’ hideouts, the sources said, two shells landed near the spot where a large number of the “non-combatants” were waiting for a curfew break. The dead hailed from villages across Matta, the locals said.

An ISPR spokesman refuted the account, saying that troops were taking “extraordinary care” in using artillery and mortar guns.

The spokesman accused militants in Venai of using villagers as human shields.

Security forces had targeted the guesthouse of Sher Ali, a militant ‘commander’, he added.

MARKET BLAST: A shop selling video cassettes and CDs was destroyed on Saturday after a blast set off a fire in a market. The explosion also damaged a number of other shops.

A bomb near another CD centre was defused.

POLICEMAN KILLED: The additional station house officer (SHO) of the Khwazakhela police station was killed at a bus stop in Islampur under unexplained circumstances.

He was on his way home. Syed Rehman, a resident of Chethor, was in plain clothes at the time of his death.