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Militants Battle Pakistani Troops

Radical cleric spark deadly fight over Islamist rule

By Katherine Thompson,  Newser Staff

Posted Oct 28, 2007 9:26 AM CDT
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(Newser) – In the latest violent outbreak in Pakistan, supporters of an extremist cleric yesterday captured a police post in the north and beheaded 13 people following a battle with soldiers, reports the AP. Troops on Friday had raided Maulana Fazlullah's stronghold in the formerly peaceful Swat district, where the radical cleric has called for Islamization of the area and a jihad against Pakistan's government.

Militants killed security personnel and civilians they accused of being government spies. The government has been dropping pamphlets in the district, encouraging citizens to cooperate with authorities in the area, where unrest is threatening the power of President Pervez Musharraf.

Militant supporters of a hard-line cleric Maulana Fazlullah walk outside an Islamic seminary in Imam Dheri village in Pakistan's Swat district, bordering Afghanistan, Saturday, Oct. 27, 2007. Authorities recovered the beheaded bodies of four Pakistani security forces on Saturday after militant supporters of a hard-line cleric publicly executed them, officials...
Militant supporters of a hard-line cleric Maulana Fazlullah walk outside an Islamic seminary in Imam Dheri village in Pakistan's Swat district, bordering Afghanistan, Saturday, Oct. 27, 2007. Authorities...   (Associated Press)
Pakistan soldier stands alert behind a bunker at a check post on the outskirts of Mingora where militants seized a police post.
Pakistan soldier stands alert behind a bunker at a check post on the outskirts of Mingora where militants seized a police post.   (Associated Press)
Pakistan paramilitary soldiers prepare to patrol on the outskirt of Mingora, in Pakistan's Swat district, bordering Afghanistan. Militants have executed 13 captives accused of being spies in apparent retaliation for an assault by security forces on the stronghold of a militant cleric in northwestern Pakistan, officials said. (AP Photo/Mohammad Zubair)
Pakistan paramilitary soldiers prepare to patrol on the outskirt of Mingora, in Pakistan's Swat district, bordering Afghanistan. Militants have executed 13 captives accused of being spies in apparent...   (Associated Press)
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Residents of Swat flee violence
Reuters

 
Pakistan • jihad • Islamic militants • outbreak • Maulana Fazlullah • Swat • Pakistan militants

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