The violence escalated when Musharraf sent the para-militaryunits into the Valley to arrest Fazlullah and his associates, neutralise hiswell-armed militant force and restore the writ of the state in the area. OnOctober 25, 2007, 20 members of the para-military forces were killed by animprovised explosive device (IED), which struck their truck at Mingora, 15 kmsfrom Imam Dheri. The security forces have since laid siege to the village ofImam Dheri. But before they could reach there, Fazlullah and his closeassociates managed to escape. There has been intense fighting for the last twodays between the security forces and the followers of Fazlullah, who have beenbeheading captured security forces personnel and civilians suspected to beco-operating with them. Fifteen beheadings in a brutal manner have been reportedso far. However, the TNSM has been denying any responsibility for the explosionand the beheadings and has been projecting these incidents as due to thespontaneous anger of the tribals over the Lal Masjid massacre and Musharraf'sco-operation with the US.