Islamabad, September 16: Pakistani security forces Wednesday arrested a senior militant leader in the north-western Swat valley, where troops are hunting Taliban remnants.
Sher Mohammad Qasab, Taliban commander in the region’s Charbagh sub-district, was seized after he was wounded in a search operation, military spokesman Lieutenant Colonel Akhtar Abbas said.
Qasab, whose name was on the list of most-wanted Taliban leaders in Swat, carried a bounty of 10 million rupees ($121,000) on his head.
Abbas declined to reveal any details about the capture, but said three sons of Qasab had already been killed in earlier assaults by the troops in the Charbagh area.
Wednesday’s arrest came four days after the military announced the capture of Taliban spokesman in Swat, Muslim Khan, along with four other militants.
Pakistani security forces began a major offensive in Swat and other nearby districts late April after the militants dishonoured a peace deal under which they agreed to disarm in return for imposition of Islamic sharia law in the region.
More than 2,000 insurgents have been reported killed in the onslaught, but analysts say the Taliban may re-emerge as most of its local leadership, including chief Maulana Fazlullah, is still at large.
Government officials said in July that the Swat insurgency had largely been wiped out, but ‘small pockets of resistance’ remained to exist.
The military said Wednesday that 17 ‘suspected terrorists’ were detained during searches carried out by the soldiers and a pro-government militia in different parts of Swat. Thirty-seven militants surrendered to the security forces voluntarily.
—Agencies