Swat suffers one of deadliest days: 64 killed

CRUSH TALIBAN AND MULLAHS.



Food shortage hits the valley; hundreds of families migrate; Edhi suspends service as ambulance attacked.
MINGORA: In one of the deadliest days, women and children among 64 people were killed in troops shelling in different areas as security forces accelerated cannon fire against militants in the valley while people's exodus continued as hundreds of people migrated from the restive areas on Sunday.
According to an ISPR press release 16 millitants were killed in the past 24 hours, however Taliban sources confirmed the death of only two militants.
A medical technician and a dispenser were killed and six other hurt including a driver by the firing on unknown persons on the four Edhi ambulances carrying wounded people from Charbagh.
After the incident the Edhi Foundation suspended the aid service in the area which added to the miseries of people.
The security forces, backed by gunship helicopters, pounded suspected militants hideouts in Charbagh on Saturday night till Sunday morning.
However the locals alleged the onslaught mostly targeted the civilian areas.
The security forces have stepped up operations against militants in Swat following the visit of Chief of the Army Staff Ashfaq Pervez Kayani to the valley. The forces targeted the hideouts of the militants with artillery shelling in Charbagh, Matta, Mangalor and Kabal areas, sources in the military told the Statesman.
Two militants were killed in clashes between security forces and militants in Matta.
At lease nine people were killed by the gunship helicopters shelling in Chamaktai, Khwazakhela while five of a family died in Mangalwar.
Five other people were perished in Jokai area due to gunships shelling, locals said.
At least 21 dead bodies, including children and women, were retrieved from houses in Shaikh Pallu area of tehsil Charbagh which was targeted by the security forces on Saturday night.
The dead bodies could not be taken from the area due to imposition of curfew.
A dead body was found in Hazara area of Kabal, while a man was killed in shelling at the hideouts of militants.
A police constable was shot dead by unidentified gunmen in Rahimabad.
The security forces are advancing towards Charbagh and upper areas.
Several houses were demolished due to shelling of security forces in Dehri area.
"A total 64 people were reportedly killed across the valley in Sunday's carnage, the deadliest since the operation launched in the valley," people say.
According to officials and people at least 80 percent areas of the district are under curfew for the last nine days due to which people face acute shortage of daily use items.
"People are dying for food in the curfew areas, let aside medical assistance," people who migrated to Mingora said.
Reportedly 300 children, aged between 5 to 8, are trapped in a madrassa in Manglawar, they said.
The exodus continued as dozens of families shifted from Charbagh and thousands of people have been displaced due to operation.
Witnesses said families using mountainous areas to reach Mingora and onward due imposition of curfew in most of the upper areas of the valley.
"Thousands of people have been migrated from the highland valley to other parts of the province in just two days," official sources said.
Official figures show seven lakh people have already left the valley of 17 lakh population.
The United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) has projected that the situation in Swat valley and the tribal areas would aggravate during the year, causing a fresh displacement of up to 625,000 people.
According to the OCHA's "humanitarian response plan", the displacement would exacerbate an "already complex humanitarian situation".
Population movements have been fluid and more constant in comparison with August; the conflict continues with no sign of abating.
The situation in Swat district was particularly alarming, with areas under militant control receiving very little or no assistance. Large portions of Swat district remain under curfew or inaccessible to aid agencies.
The OCHA has announced that an amount of $127 million will be required to assist newly displaced persons. With $29 million in funding available from original appeal for the Pakistan Humanitarian Response Plan, this leaves an unmet requirement of $98 million for 2009, it explained in a statement.
In Swat district, fighting is on the rise with 50 per cent of its 1.8 million inhabitants affected by the conflict and a large number of individuals displaced, according to UN report.
Until now, 232,720 displaced people have been registered in nine districts of the NWFP.