Author: PTI
Publication: The Pioneer
Date: May 3, 2009
http://www.dailypioneer.com/173662/Taliban-militants-hold-2000-villagers-as-human-shields.html
Taliban militants have held 2,000 people in
Buner district of restive North West Frontier Province in Pakistan to use
them as human shields in case the army attacked.
Taliban's move came as Pakistani forces stepped
up their campaign to retake territory in the districts of Buner, Dir and Swat.
The military said they had killed more than 100 militants and lost several
soldiers since fighting began on Tuesday.
Taliban militants are holding 2,000 people
as human shields in Pir Baba in Buner district, The Sunday Times reported
today.
"Kidnapping has become routine in our
village. Armed Taliban were picking up people and then demanding a huge ransom
for their release," said an elderly refugee now living with his family
in a tent in Timergara, a town in Dir.
According to the paper, many of the 90,000
refugees fleeing the conflict zone in NWFP welcomed the military action despite
their anger at being forced to leave their homes.
The militants promised to disarm but instead
moved their forces into neighbouring Dir and Buner, about 100 km from federal
capital triggering panic in Pakistan and heightening fears in the US about
the stability of the nuclear-armed state.
Although Pakistani officers described their
onslaught as a "mopping up" operation, much of Buner remained under
Taliban control, the report said.
