Pakistan’s military forces have taken complete control of the Kabal Tehsil in Swat, according to a military source. The statement claimed that Taliban militants have fled the area after a bloody battle that left many terrorists dead while those on the run robbed a number of houses and offices in the locality, along the way. The source also told that a team of trained engineers was out to detect and defuse landmines and remote-controlled bombs which had been planted by Taliban.

Meanwhile, target killing continues in Swat as NWFP’s Forest Minister Wajid Ali Khan’s brother was gunned down by an unidentified assailant in Mingora city. Farooq Khan, a police inspector, was shot dead by a gunman while he was riding his motorcycle, heading for the city’s market.

The shooter ran away from the scene. Local police has regarded the incident as ‘target killing’. A Taliban spokesman denied the responsibility of the killing, saying Farooq was not any of Taliban’s target. ANP leader Asfandyar Wali Khan called the murder ‘terrorism against Pakhtoons’.

In other incidents of violence in Swat, Taliban terrorists flogged two men, each of them 39 lashes, for alleged charges of adultery in Kabal. Two more people, in the Charbagh tehsil, were flogged on charges of drug-selling. In Mingora, a few men set a CD and video shop on fire. The culprits are suspected to be members of Taliban who have committed arson in the past, particularly targeting CD and video shops on the allegations of their role in promoting indecency and sexual perversion.