'Shaved' Taliban fighters sneaking into new region of NWFP

Peshawar, July 19 (ANI): The Pakistan Army may have been claiming that it has forced the Taliban and other extremists to retreat from the Swat Valley and that it was now safe for the displaced people to return to their homes. However, it is learnt that taking advantage of the slack security, hundreds of insurgents have sneaked into other parts of the North West Frontier Province (NWFP) through Dir and Buner.

A resident of Matta region claimed that he himself has seen several Taliban fighters scattered in Qadar Banda, situated just on the boundaries between Dir and Swat.

He said the insurgents were changing the way they look by shaving beard and shunning their ethnic clothes to prevent from being identified.

Hundreds of Taliban militants are still ruling the roost in certain parts of Buner and the adjacent mountains, The Nation reports.

Meanwhile, in Chagharzai area the situation is more alarming as around 800 extremists have gathered on the banks of the Indus River and are on the look out to slip into the Hazara region.

The Taliban has established check-posts and patrolling on main roads and streets in Chagharzai.

It has also established a 'torture cell' in the premises of a government school in the region, residents said.(ANI)