Jalozai Camp, Pakistan, July 13
The Pakistani government began sending home on Monday about 2 million people displaced two months ago by the army's assault on Taliban militants in the Swat valley.

The army says it has pushed the Taliban out of their former bastion northwest of Islamabad, and the government is keen to move the displaced back to their homes.

The Swat exodus was one of the biggest human migrations of recent times, stretching Pakistan's resources to the breaking point and prompting a global appeal for humanitarian help.

The army says more than 1,700 militants were killed in the fighting -- independent casualty estimates are unavailable -- but none of their leaders were among the casualties, leading to fears the fighters could re-emerge. In the dusty tent camp of Jalozai, already baking hot in the early morning sun, buses and trucks were lined up on Monday to take a first batch of people back to their homes.

"Thank God we're going back," said farmer Qaiser Khan. "I don't know who's right and who's wrong. We want peace and if there are terrorists, miscreants, they should be eliminated once and for all," Khan said.

Most of the displaced people moved in with family or friends but nearly 300,000 were settled in tent camps. Their plight is a sensitive issue for the government, which could see support for its more than two-month drive against the Taliban eroded if they are seen to be suffering unduly.

Fawad Ali, a 30-year-old barber, was loading his belongings, including donated bags of flour and lentils, onto the back of a truck as his family waited nearby. He said he hoped the Taliban had gone for good.

"We're pinning our hopes on the government's efforts because we're jobless. They banned our business," Ali said, referring to a Taliban ban on barbers cutting men's hair. "Hopefully, things will be different and I can feed my family," Ali said.

Chief Minister of the North West Frontier Province Amir Haider Khan Hoti told a group of people going home the Taliban would be finished off. — Reuters

Seventeen persons, including seven children, were killed in an explosion in the house of a cleric in a village on the outskirts of Mian Channu near Multan in southern Punjab on Monday.

The police arrested the cleric Master Riaz on suspicion that he had stored the explosives allegedly for terrorist designs. Riaz, who is variously described as Master and Hafiz Riaz, was also injured in the explosion and was detained by the police in the hospital in the nearby town of Khanewal.

This is the first blast in an area which has fast become the breeding ground for recruiting young militants and potential suicide bombers.

“Master Riaz was not running a regular religious madrassa but children used to come to his house for learning the Koran," local district police chief Kamran Khan told reporters. The police suspect it was meant to camouflage his activities.

TV clips also showed a rocket launcher sticking out of the debris reinforcing suspicions that the house was used for storing various kinds of weapons and explosives. The police arrested two more suspects besides Hafez Riaz.

Punjab law minister Rana Sanaullah, who also reached the village, said the situation was not immediately clear but investigations have been ordered to probe Hafiz Riaz's links and activities.

Nearly 120 persons were injured and 25 houses flattened by the blast that gouged a huge crater out of the ground. Residents complained to reporters that police and rescue team reached quite late after the explosion. Nine persons were killed in the explosion, while two of the injured died on way to the hospital. 

The Supreme Court on Monday began hearing the government appeals against release of Hafiz Saeed with judges expressing skepticism about the UN Security Council resolution against his Jamiat-ud-Dawa (JuD) as a valid ground for his detention.

The appeals have been filed by federal and Punjab governments. The court adjourned hearing till Tuesday.

Chief Justice Iftikhar Chaudhry who presided over the three-member bench of the court asked the government to locate its case strictly within the provisions of the Maintenance of Public Order (MPO), the 1960 preventive law under which Saeed was detained.

On government plea that Hafiz Saeed was detained following a UN resolution declaring his JuD as a terrorist organisation, the bench made it clear that it could not accept the UNSC designation of the Jamat-ud-dawa chief as a ground for his detention.

Hafiz Saeed’s counsel has maintained that the UNSC resolution did not entail detention of Saeed or his colleagues.

On government plea to hold an in-camera session where it promised to present sensitive material justifying the detention, the court said it would do so only if the defence is also provided copies of this evidence. The government maintained that a review board comprising three judges of the Lahore High Court had found this evidence sufficient ground for extending detention of Hafiz Saeed and his colleague Col. Nazir.

Judges grilled the Punjab advocate-general Raza Farooq to cite any provision of the MPO as justifying the detention. The pointed out that the authorities are bound to show to the detained persons the grounds for his detention within 15 days.

Farooq read out UNSC resolution and also invoked a provision to the constitutional requirement on the 15-day limit. He said there was an exception to this rule in cases where the government feels that such disclosure is against the public interest, to justify not showing the grounds of arrest to Saeed within the stipulated time.

Farooq submitted that there were two basic grounds for the detention of Saeed: one, the UN Security Council designation of Saeed; and “independently, separate evidence” in the form of intelligence reports that was presented on March 9 to a Lahore High Court-appointed detention review board when the government sought an extension of Saeed’s house arrest. The review board had found the evidence sufficient to extend the detention twice for 60 days each time.

Dhaka, July 13
Bangladesh plans to set up a highly trained special force to combat terrorism amid growing concern over surge in radical Islamist groups in country. The police headquarters has sent a proposal to the Prime Minister’s Office (PMO) for setting up of a 3,125-member National Police Bureau of Counter Terrorism to combat militancy and terrorism.

The plan was sent to the PMO through the home ministry yesterday for the final approval of the Prime Minister, sources said. “We have drafted the proposal after extensively examining the formation and activities of counter-terrorism organisations of different countries,” Hasanul Haider, assistant inspector general of the Bangladesh police, was quoted as saying by The Daily Star newspaper.

According to the sources, the special force will include experts in information technology, modern banking and cyber crime to combat terrorism. — PTI