The Pakistan government has deployed 4,000 troops in the Swat valley of NWFP province to counter the activities of a pro-Taliban cleric whose men have challenged the writ of the local administration.

The move came hours after four security personnel were injured in a bomb attack on a military caravan in the Malakand area late on Tuesday. Seven persons were arrested in connection with the attack.

Military spokesman Maj Gen Waheed Arshad on Wednesday said the paramilitary troops had been deployed to stop the illegal activities of Maulana Faizullah, a radical cleric who is popularly known as the “FM Maulana” for his fiery sermons and edicts broadcast on an illegal FM radio station.

Faizullah is the leader of the band Tanzim Nifaz-e-Shariat Muhammadi and has thousands of followers.

Reports from Swat, located 50 km from Peshawar, said the troops were advancing towards Faizullah’s madrasa. Many people were fleeing the region as they were apprehensive about the outbreak of violent clashes.

Meanhwile, Musharraf’s “constitutional package” for the Northern Areas has been dismissed as “cosmetic” as it leaves unresolved the constitutional status of the region, particularly in regard to an independent judiciary and adult franchise, The Dawn daily said, adding, “It is silent on the need for an independent judiciary and the right of adult franchise.”

“For decades Islamabads bureaucracy has been treating the region as a virtual colony by denying its people internal autonomy or provincial status,” the daily reported on Wednesday. Musharraf announced a package on Tuesday to give financial and administrative autonomy to the Northern Areas.