By SPA
Islamabad : Pakistani army troops launched a new military operation Sunday to clear out armed Islamic militants that were spotted in remote areas of the strife-torn Swat valley, where
hundreds have died in two months of clashes, according to dpa.
An unidentified number of soldiers were involved in land and air operations between the towns of Matta and Chuprial after local residents reported that small bands of militants were looting and terrorizing villages. Swat lies in the country’s north-west region, only a four-hour drive from the capital Islamabad.
“They are maligning their own religion,” army spokesman Major-General Waheed Arshad said. “They are common criminals.”
The scenic valley has been a battlefield since late October when President Pervez Musharraf deployed troops to rein in around 5,000 heavily-armed followers of radical cleric Maulana Fazlullah.