ISLAMABAD: At least 41 militants were arrested on Saturday in northwest Pakistan's restive Swat valley, hours after the ultras carried out two pre-dawn attacks on security forces.
The army said the militants were apprehended during a search and cordon operation at Kuza Bandai in Swat, where troops have been conducting a major operation since mid-November to quell the activities of pro-Taliban cleric Maulana Fazlullah and his followers.
Weapons and ammunition were also recovered from the arrested militants, the army said in a statement.
Nearly 300 militants have been killed in the Swat valley, just 160 kms from Islamabad, since the security forces launched their operation in November.
President Pervez Musharraf has accused Fazlullah and another Taliban commander, Baitullah Mehsud, from South Waziristan, of masterminding a series of suicide bombings across the country, including the assassination of former premier Benazir Bhutto. Both militant leaders have denied their involvement in Bhutto's killing.
Saturday's arrests came in the wake of an attack by militants on the police lines and garrison at Tank town in North West Frontier Province (NWFP) at 1.30 am local time. The militants used rockets and small arms in the attack though no one was injured, the army said.
Security forces cordoned off Umar Adda, north of Tank, to search for the militants who had carried out the attack.
The militants also fired three rockets at the police station at Kabal town in Swat at 2.30 am though no one was hurt.
Local residents and police demolished the homes of three militant leaders at Koza Bama Khela in Swat. "These houses were owned by Khan Khitab, Farman and Anwar Ullah, who were involved in various militant activities," the army statement said.
Police at Dera Ismail Khan in NWFP also seized three rockets but the militants who were transporting them managed to escape.
