By DPA
Islamabad : At least 10 civilians were killed overnight as artillery shells fired by security forces missed militant positions and landed in a residential area in Pakistan’s restive northwest Swat valley, media reports said Saturday.
The rounds destroyed a house in the village of Galooch in the Kabal area, leaving seven members of a family dead, local mayor Jafar Khan told Aaj news channel.
Three houses were destroyed in the nearby village of Kalakalley, Geo TV reported. Three people were killed and a woman injured in the incident.
Meanwhile, the security forces apprehended 10 suspected militants during three raids in three villages, an army statement said.
The scenic valley has been a battlefield since late October when President Pervez Musharraf deployed government troops to rein in around 5,000 heavily armed followers of radical cleric Maulana Fazlullah.
Fazlullah, also known as Mullah Radio, incited an armed campaign through a pirated FM radio station to enforce Taliban-style Islamic law in the region. His militia initially took over numerous villages and at least three main towns in the area, but were later forced to reoccupy their hideouts in the nearby mountains.
Army officials said in early December that they had killed more than 300 militants and cleared most of the area, but the insurgents continue to carry out guerrilla attacks and suicide bombings against the security forces.