Suspected militants on Saturday gunned down ANP’s local leader Mukhtar Ali Khan and associate Sardar Ali. The chief of the Pakistan Tehrik-i-Insaf’s Swat chapter, Fazal Hakeem, was seriously injured in the attack and was taken to Saidu Sharif district headquarter hospital. The militants also blew up the homes of NWFP Minister for Science and Information Technology Ayub Khan Ashari and his brother, Tahir Khan, in Swat. Mukhtar Ali, who headed the All Swat Transport Association, and Sardar Ali, President of All-Swat Rickshaw Association, and the PTI leader were attacked in Suhrat Khan Chowk minutes before Iftar.
These killings have really sparked widespread anger against the militants in the Swat region, and the people of the area have themselves started shooting at the militants. Previously, the local population was not as much against the militants and they were even helping out the local militants, but now after these killings, there is a change of heart in the people, and they are fully in view to combat the militants.
This should give a huge boost to the activities of the security forces to regain the control of the area, and to break the back of the splintering factions and to maintain the writ of the government.
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