December
6, 2007 Pakistani
Forces Take Control
of Militant Leader's Headquarters By Muhammad Najeeb
Islamabad
Pakistani paramilitary troops Thursday took control of hardline
pro-Taliban religious leader Maulana Fazlullah's headquarters in
Swat after three weeks of intense fighting and also freed people
imprisoned in his private jail.
Army spokesperson Major-General Waheed Arshad said: "Our troops have
complete control over Fazlullah's headquarters and the surrounding
area." He said troops also demolished the cleric's nearby house,
after demands by local residents.
Interior Ministry spokesperson Javed Iqbal said the security forces
also took control of Matta city in which Fazlullah's men have made a
private jail and seized the police station.
Fazlullah, 30, who is in hiding following the death of his key men
including his deputy, has been calling for enforcement of Islamic
laws in the country. He had also formed an "army" of more than 5,000
people who were out to enforce Islamic laws.
"Security forces have taken control of Matta and freed several
prisoners kept in a private jail," Iqbal told IANS.
According to reports, so far 300 followers of Fazlullah, more than
50 security personnel and around 15 civilians have been killed in
clashes between the security forces and militants.
The military also cleared the area of landmines and booby traps,
which the militants had laid before retreating into the nearby
mountains.
Fazlullah had "arrested" several men for not following Islamic laws
and kept them in a government girls' school declared as a jail by
him. Known as "Mulla Radio" he had been propagating his own form of
Islam through several illegal FM stations.
His father-in-law, who is in jail for over 10 years, had started the
Islamic Movement. He was arrested in 1995 when he announced a march
to Islamabad with half a million people.
Fazlullah, who claims to have the backing of the Taliban movement in
neighbouring Afghanistan, has also given harsh statements against
the government for siding with America in the "war on terrorism" and
the military action in Islamabad's Lal Masjid earlier this year in
which more than 250 people were killed.
The militants have vowed to continue a guerrilla war against the
government.
Clashes erupted in the valley in late October when President Pervez
Musharraf sent additional troops to rein in Fazlullah's 5,000
heavily armed followers.
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