Peshawar: Pakistani authorities have filed
37 cases in anti-terrorism and Islamic courts in the country`s
northwest against detained Taliban fighters charged under an
anti-terrorism law, officials said on Friday.
The cases have been filed against Taliban commanders
from Swat valley and their supporters, including
Tehrik-e-Nifaz-e-Shariah Muhammadi chief Sufi Muhammad and
former militant spokesman Muslim Khan.
Sufi Muhammad and Muslim Khan have been named in five
cases each, officials said.
Prosecutors have filed challans or chargesheets
along with evidence in an anti-terrorism court and an Islamic
court called the Darul Qaza, a government official said.
The hearing of these cases will start soon, he said.
The Islamic courts were set up last year under a deal
between the Taliban and authorities in Pakistan’s northwest.
The deal collapsed after Taliban fighters from Swat
began moving into several districts located just 100 km from
Islamabad.
The government then ordered the army to launch an
operation to flush the militants out of Swat.
Commander Muslim Khan had served as a deputy to
Maulana Fazlullah, the head of the Taliban in Swat.
The militants had established a parallel government in
most parts of Swat and their courts often punished people with
the death sentence.
PTI
