SWAT, Nov 1: Militants on Thursday claimed to have captured 44 militiamen in the Khwazakhela sub-district after day-long heavy fighting in which the government said over 60 militants had been killed.

A spokesman for the militants in Swat told Dawn that the 44 men from the Frontier Corps Dir Scouts had surrendered in the morning after they had been surrounded at Langar in Khwazakhela. Blindfolded and their hands tied behind their backs, the militiamen were taken away to an unknown place.

The militiamen surrendered after the militants had told them that they would not be harmed and would be handed over to their relatives, said militant commander Liaqat Ali. He quoted one of the militiamen as saying that they had run out of ration and lack of support and supplies had left them with no option but to give up.

“They were taken to a compound and were fed,” he said.

However, provincial Home Secretary Badshah Gul Wazir told a press briefing in Peshawar that no security personnel had been taken hostage.

An officer of the Frontier Corps also denied the militants’ claim. “This is not true. There is no reality in it,” General Officer Col Shehbaz told Dawn.

Between 600 and 700 militants had launched a pre-dawn attack on a bunker of the paramilitary force on a hill. It was an all-out attack from all sides, the home secretary told Dawn.

“But the forces were well-entrenched and well-positioned and they responded with full force, inflicting massive casualties on the militants. Our reports are that they suffered between 60 and 70 casualties. They were literally running down the hill,” he said.

The militants, however, said only seven of their fighters had been killed.

Provincial police chief Sharif Virk said security forces had used helicopter gunships and artillery to dislodge the militants from their positions.

“Unless we clear the high ground positions and dislodge them from hilltops, it would be very risky and dangerous to move foot soldiers in Khwazakhela”, he said.

He said that Matta, a major militant stronghold, would be targeted later. He put the militants’ strength in Swat at between 4,000 and 5,000.

Mr Virk said that food and ammunition had been provided to police holed up in a police station in Matta. “It’s too dangerous to evacuate them now. They can better defend themselves from inside.” He would not say anything about the number of policemen in the station for security reasons. The home secretary said the security forces had supplied food and ammunition to their men in the Charbagh sub-district where the situation was desperate till Wednesday night.

He denied that negotiations had been held with the militants, saying there was no official communication with them.

There were also unconfirmed reports that two foreigners had been captured by the militants in the Charbagh area.

“We are establishing the identity of the foreigners. If they are journalists they will remain unharmed,” militants’ spokesman Sirajuddin said.

Earlier, the security forces backed by artillery and helicopter gunships targeted the militants’ positions in Khwazakhela, a stronghold of Maulana Fazlullah, located 27km from Mingora.

Local people said the clashes escalated when the gunships pounded the militants’ positions in Khwazakhela and Charbagh areas. Firing between the two sides continued throughout the day. Shelling intensified in the night and area residents said they had seen bushfire in the hills.

Four personnel of the Bajaur Scouts were injured when a truck of the Scouts carrying food supplies was hit by an improvised explosive device (IED) in the Mandara village late Thursday night.

The truck, going to Chakdara from Peshawar, was hit by the IED planted in a stationary motorcycle and set off by a remote control by unknown people. The blast damaged the truck and injured four Scouts.

More people have left their areas for safe places after the renewed clashes. Most of them have taken shelter with their relatives in other parts of the valley.A district administration official said a tent camp established for the displaced people had been relocated to a playground near Mingora. The camp could accommodate 1,000 people but no one had turned up there so far, he said.

Late-night reports reaching here from Khwzakhela said that heavy fighting was raging between militants and government forces in the area.

Informed sources told Dawn that the Khwazakhela police station staff had been told to vacate the station because of the tense and volatile situation.