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A lot of fighting in this area recently. Here’s another report from last week....

ISLAMABAD, Oct. 26 (Xinhua) — The security forces and militants exchanged fires in North West Frontier Province (NWFP) of Pakistan on Friday with casualties feared, a local TV channel DAWN NEWS reported.

The security forces deployed a large number of Frontier Corps in Swat valley of NWFP and several explosions were heard in the area, the DAWN NEWS report said.

Helicopters also shelled areas near a religious seminary of Maulana Fazalullah, who was leading thousands of supporters, the report said.

The army spokesman Major General Waheed Arshad was quoted by DAWN NEWS as saying that the security forces acted under the directives of the provincial administration and it was not a military operation.

“The army is in a standby position and if the provincial government makes a request, then they will also join the operation against miscreants,” Arshad said.

The security men took position on mountains and took over a militants’ training camp in Khawzakhela Tehsil. At the same time, heavy gunfires were also reported in Imamdheri of Swat valley which was the headquarters of Fazlullah.

The government sent about 2,500 soldiers to Swat a few days agoto “curb the activities of the Maulana Fazalullah and his followers,” Arshad said.

Maulana Fazalullah is leading a banned group “Tehreek-e-Nafaz-e-Shariat-e-Mohammadi”, which means Movement for the enforcement of Prophet Muhammad Islamic laws. The movement was launched by his father-in-law Sufi Muhammad in 1992 and was banned by President Pervez Musharraf in January 2002.