MINGORA, Feb 14: Government employees, who were assigned duties on various polling stations in the troubled Swat valley, have threatened to quit jobs if their duties in the areas dominated by militants were not cancelled.

According to sources, the district returning officer Swat had assigned duties to employees of the education and other sister departments for conducting elections on February 18, but they were reluctant to go to the areas where militants still rein and the government has no writ there.

They said threat of militant attacks was eminent in different localities of Matta, Khwazakhel and Kabal during the polling.

Normally, employees of various government departments make efforts to get duty on the polling day for monitory gains but the case is different in Swat this time.

“There is potential threat even to the lives of these employees,” the sources said. When asked some of the teachers, who were assigned duties in sensitive polling stations, they outright rejected the official orders, saying: “Lives are sweeter than service.

We can’t take risk. We are ready to quit job but doing duties there means eminent death.”

A radical cleric of the area, Maulana Fazlullah, had warned the people to stay away from the elections or be ready for dire consequences.

The militant leader had also threatened the contesting candidates of ‘terrible results’. Most of the contenders have confined their election campaign to indoor activities or installing billboards, pasting posters, hanging banners and wall chalking at various points in Swat.

Some of the candidates have abandoned their homes and shifted to Islamabad and other cities to save their lives while their representatives, relatives and local party workers were running their election campaigns.

The government had claimed control of most of the areas in Matta, Kabal and Khwazakhela but all government offices, hospitals and local courts are still closed.