Soldiers stand guard in Lower Dir district where several militants have reportedly been killed while one FC soldier also lost his life during the operation that started Sunday. - AP photo

ISLAMABAD The government announced on Sunday that the Swat peace deal would not be affected by the operation launched by the Frontier Corps in cooperation with the army in Lower Dir.

Interior Affairs Adviser Rehman Malik said 30 militants and some security personnel had been killed in the operation.

`The operation has nothing to do with Swat. It is being launched in Dir area against increasing militancy there,` Interior Secretary Kamal Shah said.

He said the government would adhere to the agreement which did not allow an operation in Swat.

However, he hinted that if militants did not lay down arms after the enforcement of `Sharia laws` in Swat, the security operation could be extended to other areas, including the valley.

On the other hand, the banned Tehrik-i-Taliban Pakistan`s spokesman Muslim Khan said Taliban would not lay down weapons unless all Americans in Pakistan returned to their country and Darul Qaza was established in Swat. He said the Darul Qaza could order the Taliban to disarm.

In reply to a question, the interior secretary said `They (Taliban) have left Buner.`
However, there were reports that while returning to Swat, Taliban had taken some young men from Buner along with them for militant training.

Interior Adviser Rehman Malik appealed to parents to keep their children away from suspicious people in Swat, Buner and other districts where Taliban were present.

He warned Taliban that the government would flush them out if they did not lay down weapons.

He urged the Taliban to disarm and not to challenge the writ of the government.
`A few Taliban can`t challenge the writ of the government and the government will maintain its writ at all costs.

`Anti-state elements are using Taliban. I advise them to lay down their arms and come forward to play their role in the progress and development of Pakistan. They have a golden chance to join the mainstream and work for the welfare of Pakistan,` he said.

In reply to a question, Mr Malik said the fate of the accord depended on restoration of peace. `A `peace accord` has no importance if peace does not prevail,` he said.

He said the operation had been launched at the request of the NWFP government in areas adjoining Swat.

`There are three to four places where Taliban were showing themselves and challenging the government`s writ. Several Taliban have been killed and one FC man embraced Shahadat during the operation,` he said.

The adviser said it was the government`s prime responsibility to protect the lives and property of people in Swat, Dir and other parts of the country.

He warned the Taliban to stop publishing and distributing pamphlets, adding that the government was investigating those involved in publishing pamphlets. `Taliban will not be allowed to impose their agenda on people by force.`

Accusing the Taliban of being involved in the blast which killed children in Lower Dir, he said `They have exposed their intention and real face by taking lives of innocent children through a toy bomb blast.`

He said the provincial government had been asked by President Asif Ali Zardari and Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani to investigate the incident.

`It is being investigated whether the children and their family members were killed after refusing to become suicide bombers. Taliban have forced the government to take strict action against them,` he said in a statement.

President Zardari`s spokesman Farhatullah Babar also said the operation in Dir would not affect the Swat peace deal between Sufi Mohammad and the Frontier government.

According to the ISPR, the operation was launched by the Frontier Corps early on Sunday morning against suspected militant hideouts in Islampura and Lal Qila areas of Lower Dir.