Militants owing allegiance to pro-Taliban cleric Maulana Fazlullah have taken over a key town in northwestern Pakistan despite a renewed offensive launched against them by the army recently.
After over-running most towns and villages in Swat district over the past few weeks, the militants have captured the district headquarters of Shangla in Malakand division, from where hundreds of Chinese engineers and workers were evacuated by the federal government in early November.
The militants have taken over Alpuri, the headquarters of Shangla district and home to Political Affairs Minister Amir Muqam. The militants already control almost 80 per cent of the territory of nearby Swat district, including six of eight sub-districts.
The militants took over the offices of the district police officer, district coordination officer, district courts and police lines on Tuesday.
Since Monday, helicopter gunships and artillery have pounded militant positions in Swat after the army assumed a lead role in operations against the rebels under emergency regulations.
There was no official word on the advance of the militants from Swat to Shangla but reports said a curfew from midnight to 9 am was imposed in Malakand, a provincially administered tribal area adjoining Swat, to safeguard troop movements in the region.
Lt Gen Muhammad Masood Aslam has said that hundreds of foreign militants were intensifying their activities in Swat. He estimated that 500 to 800 militants were active in the area.
"The initiative is with the militants. We don't want to use force unless they do. But if they fire, we will respond with full force. There will be no holds barred," Aslam said.
He said the policies of the previous Muttahida Majlis-e-Amal government in the North West Frontier Province allowed the situation in Swat to "build up by appeasing Maulana Fazlullah". It was the MMA government that refused to allow the army to take action in Swat after it was first deployed in the area in July.
Aslam said the government would prefer to negotiate and resolve issues through peaceful means. "But nobody will be allowed to dictate terms and force his demands through the barrel of the gun," he said.
"We want minimal application of force and not an indiscriminate military operation. We will use force in a selective and a very precise manner that is based on good intelligence and is most targeted," Aslam said.
He also pointed out that the militancy in the northwest posed a threat to the entire country. "Those living in Lahore and Karachi, seem to think that (terrorism) is happening on the other side of River Indus and they are safe. This is not the case. This is going to create problems for all of us in Pakistan."