By IRNA
Islamabad : Pakistani security forces retook a center of local Taliban in the country’s scenic Swat valley early Thursday a day after the militants appeared in the area after months in hiding, officials said.
Taliban offered evening prayers and had also announced to offer Friday prayers at Imam Dheri, a small village, three kilometers from Mingora, the main city in the Valley.
The early morning operation by the troops forced the militants to leave their center and move to nearby mountains, locals said.
They said the forces had also shelled areas around the Imam Dheri mosque late last night hours after the militants announced they had entered the area again.
The forces had captured the mosque when they launched a major operation in November, which resulted into the killing of up to 200 people from both sides.
The area has seen suicide bombings and bomb attacks against the army and police in different parts of the Valley.
A cleric Maulana Fazlullah, who had fought along side Taliban in Afghanistan in 2001, is leading the militants in Swat valley.
Officials said the security forces established set up a permanent check post at Imam Dheri after they took over control the center of the militants to stop them from entering the area.
Locals said that local Taliban had started activities in Matta and Kabal, two major towns in the Valley after the new government in the North West Frontier Province formed a 6-member traditional Jirga or council to hold dialogue with the militants.
Witnesses said that the militants came out in vehicles and briefly patrolled the area on Wednesday.
Imam Dheri served as the headquarters of local Taliban commander Fazlullah during the clashes between the security forces and the Taliban.
Fazlullah and his followers shifted to unknown locations, while the security forces claimed to have flushed them out of their stronghold a few months back. However, alarm bells started ringing in the minds of locals, with the resumption of Taliban activities.
The spokesman for militants, Sirajuddin said Maulana Fazlullah and his supporters were ready to talk to the committee and the Jirga that was being constituted for peacefully ending the conflict in Swat.