Thaindian News

Islamabad, Aug 21 (IANS) Over 60 militants, including two cousins of Taliban commander Fazlullah, have surrendered before Pakistani security forces at Saidu Sharif airport in Swat, Online news agency reported Friday.
The surrendered militants were also presented before the media where they announced they had renounced violence and also handed over their weapons to the district coordination officer of Mingora at a simple but dignified ceremony.

Usman and Akar, cousins of Swat Taliban commander Fazalullah, and militant commander Khurshid Khan are also among those militants who had surrendered.

Speaking on the occasion, the sector in-charge of Swat’s Imam Dheri area, Col. Naeem, said that the normalcy had returned to war torn region.

He directed Taliban militants hiding in mountainous areas to lay down their arms and renounce violence as they had no other option.

The Pakistani military is currently winding down a major offensive it launched in late April to clear the the Malakanad division of the North West Frontier Province (NWFP) of the Taliban. Swat is one of the seven districts of the division.

The operations had begun after the Taliban reneged on a controversial peace deal with the NWFP government under which they were to lay down their arms in return for Sharia laws being imposed in the Malakand division.

Instead, they moved south from their Swat headquarters and occupied Buner, which is just 100 km from Islamabad.

The operations had begun from Lower Dir, the home district of radical cleric Sufi Mohammad, who had negotiated the peace deal and who is Fazlullah’s father-in-law. The focus later shifted to Buner and Swat.

The military says over 1,500 Taliban have been killed in the operations. While Sufi Mohammad has been captured, Fazlullah’s whereabouts are a mystery.