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Bodies found in Pakistan valley | Bodies found in Pakistan valley |
(10 minutes later) | |
The bodies of 22 suspected militants have been found in Pakistan's Swat valley in the past day, officials say. | The bodies of 22 suspected militants have been found in Pakistan's Swat valley in the past day, officials say. |
Corpses allegedly began appearing several weeks ago. Officials said 18 were found in the region last week. | |
Local residents say the Pakistani security forces have been carrying out extra-judicial killings as part of their offensive against the Taliban. | Local residents say the Pakistani security forces have been carrying out extra-judicial killings as part of their offensive against the Taliban. |
The army and police have denied the accusations, saying locals could be behind the killings for "revenge". | The army and police have denied the accusations, saying locals could be behind the killings for "revenge". |
A Pakistani human rights watchdog says reports of extra-judicial killings are credible. | A Pakistani human rights watchdog says reports of extra-judicial killings are credible. |
name="story"> class="bodl" href="#map">See a map of the region | |
"We call for a proper investigation to find out who killed them, who were the dead, whether they were militants, innocent people or bystander," said I A Rehman of the independent Human Rights Commission of Pakistan told the Reuters news agency. | |
"We've already demanded an investigation but nothing has happened. It's a serious matter and must be looked into," he said. | |
'Blindfolded' | |
Three bodies were found in the Danagram area on the outskirts of Swat's central town of Mingora on Tuesday morning, a security official told the BBC Urdu Service, bringing the total number discovered in the past day to 22. | |
He said the victims had not yet been identified. | |
Previously we were afraid of the Taliban. Now, we're afraid of the army Mingora resident | |
On Monday, local officials said 19 corpses had been recovered from areas around the Malam Jabba road, north of Mingora. | |
Witnesses said most of the victims had been shot, some several times. They were blindfolded with their hands tied behind their backs, and dumped in fields or alleys. | |
"Previously we were afraid of the Taliban. Now, we're afraid of the army," one man told the Associated Press. | |
Military officials have confirmed that the army has been conducting operations in areas where the bodies have been found. | |
A top government official in the region, Malakand division commissioner Fazal Karim Khattak, told the BBC that the appearance of the bodies had become a "puzzle". | |
But he rejected the local view that the security forces had been killing suspected Taliban fighters extra-judicially after detaining them. | |
"I have recommended to the provincial government to hold an inquiry into the circumstances that have led to these deaths," he said. | |
A military spokesman, Maj-Gen Athar Abbas, said it believed the killings could have been the "result of revenge by local people". | |
"It could be a reaction to all that happened to the people in Swat," he said. | "It could be a reaction to all that happened to the people in Swat," he said. |
While the Taliban controlled the valley, militants dumped bodies of alleged collaborators on the streets to terrify people into submission, correspondents say. | |
Officials say people have been discovering unidentified bodies dumped in the Swat valley since mid-July, when internal refugees who had fled the area in April in the wake of the army offensive returned. | |
According to one estimate, more than 120 corpses have been found in total. | |
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