SWAT: Swat district police officer Dr Zahidullah announced on Friday that three key militants involved in the August 28 attack on the Banr police station, which resulted in the death of a cop and injuries to two others, had been arrested.

Addressing a press conference at his office here, he said following the incident, the Swat police in collaboration with the Counter-Terrorism Department initiated an operation based on scientific methods, utilising CCTV footage and human intelligence, which led to the critical breakthrough.

“We traced the suspects to Amir Khan Mohallah in Nawa Kallay area with the assistance of local residents. The militants had deep connections to the outlawed Tehreek-i-Taliban Pakistan,” he said, adding that three of the five militants were arrested during a raid. He said efforts were underway to arrest the remaining two suspects.

He identified the arrested militants as Mohammad Haris, Burhanullah and Shahzad, all hailing from Swat.

DPO says they were involved in Banr police station attack.

DPO Zahidullah also revealed that Haris’ father, Merajuddin, was a significant TTP operative in Swat, who was killed by security forces in 2011.

He said mobile phones recovered from the suspects showed they were in constant contact with individuals in Afghanistan. “One of the suspects, Burhan, is married to the widow of a prominent TTP commander. All of the arrested militants are related, and their families have ties to the TTP,” he added.

The three arrested militants were also presented to the media on the occasion.

DPO Zahidullah emphasised that Swat remained peaceful and assured that the police were prepared for any challenge. He also expressed gratitude to the people of Swat for supporting the law enforcement agencies in their fight against the anti-state elements.

IRRIGATION CHANNEL RESTORED: A non-governmental association, Community Resilience Activity North (CRA-N), has rehabilitated an irrigation channel, which was damaged in the 2022 floods in Bahrain tehsil.

The opening ceremony of the restored channel was held in Shahgram Paklai area of Madyan the other day.

Additional assistant commissioner, Bahrain Ahmed Sher, tehsil chairman Mian Shahid Ali and local elders were in attendance.

The speakers said the damage to the irrigation channel had caused significant hardship for local landowners, leaving their agricultural lands barren.

CRA-N officials said five similar projects had been completed in Bahrain and two in Matta.

They said community training sessions were also held in Cherbat, Shagai, and Paklai villages of Bahrain. These sessions involved 15 male participants from each village, while local women were also trained on flood risks and preventive measures to ensure safety.

Published in Dawn, September 14th, 2024