Islamabad (DPA) : Pakistan’s military said Sunday that at least 50 armed Islamic militants were captured in an ongoing offensive in the restive Swat Valley, and the area could be reopened in time for the winter ski season.
The captured include mercenaries from Afghanistan and Uzbekistan. They were detained within the past 10 days during a new offensive to regain control of the region, which was once a popular tourist area but was overrun by pro-Taliban militants, said army spokesman Major-General Waheed Arshad.
“It’s going well and presently we’re consolidating,” he said.
The government last month sent additional troops to the valley, four hours’ drive from the capital, to rein in about 5,000 armed followers of radical Muslim cleric Maulana Fazlullah, who is fighting to impose Islamic law.
Fazlullah’s armed followers had captured dozens of villages and at least three main towns in Swat, including a police station in Matta, renaming it the “Taliban Police Station.”
Some Taliban and Al Qaeda fighters who fled to the region after US-led forces invaded neighbouring Afghanistan in 2001 were also believed to be aiding Fazlullah’s militia.