Ground sweep: Several suspects arrested in search op

Curfew imposed in parts of Matta tehsil ahead of the operation.

MATTA: Several suspects were arrested during a day-long search operation conducted by security forces in parts of Matta tehsil in Swat on Friday.

According to the police, security forces carried out the operation in various parts of the tehsil after imposing a curfew in the area. The curfew was imposed from Matta Bazaar to Wenai Bridge in Chuprial and at Nazarabad and Kharerai areas.



According to the police and locals, the curfew was lifted from Matta to Chuprial at around 3pm while the curfew was still in place in Nazarabad and Kharerai till this report was filed.

The search operation was conducted following Thursday’s attacks in which two persons, including a security official, were shot dead in separate incidents.

“As I woke up and got ready to go to work early in the morning, an announcement was made from the mosque about the imposition of a curfew in our village,” Azmat Ali, a resident of Chuprial, told The Express Tribune.

He added security forces started the search early morning and arrested several suspects who were shifted to an undisclosed location for further investigation.

During the insurgency in Swat which began in 2007, Matta was a stronghold of the Taliban who challenged the government’s writ and established their own Sharia courts.

Published in The Express Tribune, August 16^th,2014.