Click to play videoNEW DELHI: Thirteen captives, including six security personnel and seven civilians, accused of spying have been killed by militants at Swat in Pakistan.
The killings were carried out in apparent retaliation of an assault by security forces on the stronghold of militant cleric Maulana Fazlullah. Security forces and militants exchanged fire using rocket-propelled grenades, mortars and other weapons.
About 2,500 paramilitary troops have been deployed at Swat in Pakistan to tackle Fazlullah, who rallied his supporters to wage jihad against the Pakistani government.The latest violence marks an escalation of the conflict between the Pakistan government and pro-Taliban forces.
A spokesman for the pro-Taliban cleric claimed the killings were carried out by local residents who back the militants' aims - although there was no other indication that villagers were responsible for the deaths.
The men were captured by militants at a roadblock they had set up on the outskirts of Swat district, according to Home Secretary Badshah Gul Wazir, the top civilian security official of the North West Frontier Province, where Swat is located.
Militants seized the men after an attack Friday on Fazlullah's stronghold of Imam Dheri village in which security forces backed by helicopters and militants traded fire using rocket-propelled grenades, mortars and other weapons.
Officials said earlier that 11 people had been kidnapped on Friday.
A witness said he had seen six of the bodies with notes attached accusing them of being American agents.
The fighting, which had subsided by Saturday, has claimed at least three lives, including two civilians who were hit by militant fire, Wazir and the militants said.
Rising militancy in north-western Pakistan has shaken the authority of President General Pervez Musharraf, a key ally in the US war on terror.
The latest violence marks an escalation of the conflict between his government and pro-Taliban forces.
(For updates you can share with your friends, follow IBNLive on Facebook, Twitter, Google+ and Pinterest)
More on IBNLive Right Now
MOST SHARED
PHOTOGALLERY
