Pak religious leaders criticize Swat offensive

Islamabad, May 21 (ANI): Pakistan's religious leaders have strongly criticized the Swat offensive, saying innocent civilians are being killed in the operation, and added that even India has never adopted such measures in Kashmir.

"It is not correct to target the whole population for the pursuance of few terrorists and even the Indian forces never adopted such measures in occupied Kashmir," the former Amir of Jamaat-e-Islami Hussain Ahmad said.

Ahmad blamed the security forces for the killing of innocent people in the operation.

The Swat operation is the action replay of Lal Masjid operation and the only difference is that large numbers of innocent people are being killed in Swat. The target of operation is not Taliban or Sufi Mohammad but the poor and innocent people," The News quoted Ahmad, as saying.

He also claimed that the government is fully aware about the US led drone attacks in the tribal regions along the Pakistan-Afghanistan border.

"The United States wants to occupy our nuclear assets by marginalizing the Taliban issue and drone attacks are being carried out with the government's consent," Ahmad added. (ANI)