The members of the civil society in Swat’s Mingora took to the streets on Wednesday to record their protest against the rise in militancy and the extortion cases in the Swat district and vowed that militancy would not be tolerated under any circumstances in the region.

The protesters staged their protest at Nishat Chowk in Mingora demanding an end to the militancy.

The number of militant attacks is on the rise in Khyber PakhtunKhwa’s Swat district and has intensified after a District Peace Committee member among eight was killed in a roadside bomb attack in the Bara Bandai area of Mingora on Tuesday.

Meanwhile, seven employees of an international mobile service company were reported missing. Later the kidnappers released five of the seven employees.

However, in recent months, attacks in Swat have been increasing, with the Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan claiming responsibility of Tuesday’s attack that killed peace committee member Idrees Khan. TTP said that Khan was involved in killing their members.

It also claimed the responsibility for a clash with the Pakistan’s military in which three soldiers were killed Tuesday in Kurram district, bordering Afghanistan.

For years Islamabad encouraged tribal vigilante forces known as peace committees to defend their villages against militants.

Most have been disbanded since the insurgency was largely crushed and security improved across the country.

The TTP declared an indefinite ceasefire in June to facilitate peace talks being brokered by Afghanistan, but there have been regular clashes since then despite both sides saying the truce was still on.

Since the Taliban returned to power in Afghanistan last year Islamabad has regularly complained of attacks by the TTP, especially along their porous frontier.