Weapons of Mass Destruction (WMD)

Pakistani Taliban loot 7 trucks of chemicals in Swat valley

IRNA - Islamic Republic News Agency

Islamabad, April 26, IRNA -- Pakistani Taliban in the restive Swat valley Saturday looted seven trucks of chemical ‘ammonium nitrate’ which could be used in making bombs, officials and truck drivers said.

Security officials feared that the militant can use the chemicals for making explosives.

Locals said that the militants looted the trucks at Chahar Bagh and Guli Bagh areas and shifted the materials to their controlled areas.

A truck driver Muhammad Javed said that a group of 12 armed Taliban stopped the trucks, which were heading to the town of Bisham on the Karakuram Highway, connecting Pakistan with China.

He said that Taliban told drivers that the chemicals are of the government and that is why they are taking the chemicals.

Javed said Taliban unloaded the trucks at different locations and allowed the drivers to go. He said there were around 3000 bags of ‘ammonium nitrate’ in trucks.

Analysts say that ‘ammonium nitrate’ could be used for making explosives, and taking away the chemicals by Taliban is a matter of concern.

Meanwhile Taliban Saturday took away a TV mechanic from the Mingora city in Swat, witnesses said. They said a group of 30 armed Taliban took away the mechanic on the plea that TV is un-Islamic.

Taliban have established their rule in almost the entire Swat district after a top cleric Sufi Muhammad brokered a deal between the Taliban and the security forces in February.

In another development the government transferred a senior officer from Swat on his ‘sympathy’ with the Taliban militants, sources said.

Syed Muhammad Javed, Commission of Malakand division, of which Swat is a part, was also thought to have met Taliban deputy chief Maulvi Faqir.

A government Senator Haji Adeel however said that the transfer is a routine matter.
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End News / IRNA / News Code 453677