Pakistan fighters declare ceasefire

29/10/2007| IslamWeb

Armed supporters of a pro-Taliban cleric in troubled northwestern Pakistan have agreed to a ceasefire, a day after security forces backed by helicopter gunships targeted their hide-outs.

The army said on Monday that between 50-60 fighters were killed in fierce fighting in the restive Swat valley on Sunday.

Swat, a valley close to Pakistan's lawless tribal belt bordering Afghanistan, has seen a surge in violence since Maulana Fazlullah, the pro-Taliban cleric, reportedly launched an illegal FM radio station and urged a jihad, or Muslim holy war.

Residents said they had not heard any gunshots early Monday in Swat.

"This is a good thing that the militants have agreed to the ceasefire, and we welcome it," Arshad Majid, the district co-ordination officer in Swat, said by telephone.

Fighting

Fazlullah's armed supporters have been fighting security forces in Swat since Friday, when the military raided the cleric's stronghold.

Authorities sent 2,500 paramilitary troops to Swat to fight supporters of Fazlullah, who has launched a Taliban-style Islamisation campaign in the once-peaceful district.

Fazlullah is the leader of the banned pro-Taliban group Tehrik Nifaz-e-Sharia Mohammedi, or Movement for the Enforcement of Islamic Law.

Mohammed Ijaj, an official at Swat Hospital, said they had received 11 injured civilians overnight, and that all were in stable condition.

"We didn't hear any firing today," he said on Monday.

Over the weekend, the fighters captured a police post in the nearby village of Charbagh.

PHOTO CAPTION

A view of Swat valley close to Pakistan's lawless tribal belt bordering Afghanistan. [Reuters]

Al-Jazeera