Saif denies impression that KP govt allowed Taliban comeback

The Special Assistant to the Chief Minister on Information, Barrister Muhammad Ali Saif, said that the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa government did not allow the Taliban to return to Swat. He said the impression is wrong that the government let them come back under some conspiracy.

"The impression is misplaced that we let the Taliban return to Swat under some sort of conspiracy," he said, speaking to the media in Swat.

Barrister Saif said that he requests the Taliban leaders to call back their fighters, who are in Swat or any other part of Pakistan.

The assistant to the CM also ruled out a deal with the Taliban, saying some armed people came to the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province after the negotiations stalled. The influx of Taliban fighters led to some incidents, he added.

School van attacked in Swat

Earlier this month, an armed assailant fired at a school van, killing the van driver and injuring one student who was sitting in the front seat with the driver. The gun attack sparked protests by the relatives and neighbours of the victim who demanded justice.

The attack came a day after the 10th anniversary of the shooting of Nobel laureate Malala Yousafzai by the Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) when she was a schoolgirl.

The Swat Valley, where the attack took place, was once overrun by the banned Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP), who shot Nobel laureate Malala Yousafzai on a school bus in the same city ten years ago.

The area has seen a resurgence of TTP with a spike in attacks in recent weeks.

"The attacker fled the scene and a search operation has been launched," police official Ali Badshah told AFP, adding that the wounded boy was aged between 10 and 11.

Locals in Mingora, the city where the attack took place, fear it was carried out by the TTP but they have denied responsibility for Monday's shooting.