Six-month toll: 260 militants slain in counter-attacks

SWAT: Security forces repulsed at least 17 cross-border attacks during the past six months and killed 260 militants in these operations, a senior security official said on Thursday. Forty security personnel were killed in these attacks, the General Officer Commanding (GOC) Swat Major General Ghulam Qamar told a news briefing. Some 104 militants, including a suicide bomber, were arrested during the same period. Security forces have thwarted the plans of five militant groups who attempted to enter Swat in February, March and June while a huge cache of arms and suicide jackets was seized from them.

Published in The Express Tribune, September 7^th, 2012.