SWAT, Nov 10: Militants took a major, a captain and five soldiers hostage in Kabbal tehsil on Saturday.

A militant commander, Akbar Hussain, who is in charge of the tehsil, said the soldiers were traveling in an army vehicle when they were intercepted at a checkpoint near Kabbal and taken hostage. He said a major, a captain, two lance naiks and three sepoys had been taken hostage.

He said that a secret file and a map marking militants’ positions had been seized from the soldiers and they had been taken to Imam Dheri, the headquarters of Maulana Fazalullah’s movement.

Sources said that the soldiers wearing plain clothes were going from the Chakdarra base camp to Kabbal when the militants signaled them to stop but the driver sped away. However, the vehicle was stopped at the next checkpoint and the soldiers were asked to surrender.

Militant commander of Khwazakhela, Maulana Mohammad Alam, made an announcement in a mosque in Madyan, asking people to grow beards and offer prayers regularly. He asked women to observe proper purdah, warning that otherwise they would be punished.

The sources said the maulana set a three-day deadline for the people to abide by religious laws, after which the militants would punish the violators.

He said the militants had vacated all government installations and offices in Kalam and Behrain after holding talks with a local jirga to restore peace in the valley. He said the local people had showed unity and supported the militants’ call for enforcement of Shariat in Swat.

However, he said the militants would not vacate the government installations in Madyan.

“We want peace and urge the government to come forward for holding talks, but its intentions are not good. The government wants to disturb the situation,” he alleged.

The sources said that the militants made a prayer leader, Maulana Mohammad Jamil, their amir in Kalam to guard the vacated installations and solve the problems of people. They said 12 men, divided in two groups, would work with the amir to solve people’s problems and guard the government offices.

The security forces were on high alert and Frontier Corps personnel were patrolling and checking all vehicles on roads. The security forces had also blocked the road to the Circuit House and other important buildings in Mingora.

Local people continued to leave their areas for safer places as tension ran high in Swat.