By Muhammad Najeeb, IANS
Islamabad : The Pakistani government has launched a Lal Masjid-type military operation in Swat in the North-West Frontier Province (NWFP) to flush out a radical Islamic cleric hiding in a madrassa with around 2,000 followers.
Reports said Friday that six gunship helicopters were involved in the military operation launched against Maulana Fazalullah and his followers in a madrassa in Imamdheri area of Swat. The cleric has announced an armed campaign to enforce Islamic laws in the country
The military operation comes a day after the militants blew up two trucks carrying paramilitary soldiers in which 24 security officials and three civilians were killed.
According to media reports, over the years Fazalullah has gathered a band of thousands of followers.
He also started an illegal FM channel in the area and used it for giving sermons. Since the start of this channel in 2002, the government on several occasions disrupted its transmission and even captured the radio equipment, but he started it again.
Though the channel is off the air, his followers have announced on the public address system in different areas that they would go against the government until Islamic laws are enforced in the country.
The spokesman for the Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR), Maj-Gen Waheed Arshad, said that a limited action by the Frontier Constabulary, a paramilitary unit, was launched against the militants on request of the provincial government.
The NWFP, which was run by the religious alliance – Muttahida Majlis-e-Amal (MMA), was recently handed over to a caretaker set up after Chief Minister Akram Durrani dissolved the provincial assembly to protest the controversial presidential elections in which military dictator President Pervez Musharraf was elected with a huge margin.
Reports said that people in Swat city have started moving out of the area because of the continuous insecurity. “Most of the people have fled the area to save their lives,” said one television report.
The Lal Masjid deputy priest, who was recently appointed on orders of the Supreme Court, announced his support to Fazalullah Thursday. “This is reciprocal, Maulana had announced support to my uncle,” said Amir Siddiqui, nephew of cleric Maulana Rashid Ghazi who along with 200 others was killed in the July operation.