During the operation, the town's infrastructure was nearly demolished. More than 200,000 people were displaced. After the operation, the army troops had discovered bomb factories and schools for teenage suicide bombers. The hate literature and CDs were also confiscated by the army. Four months later the villagers were forbidden from returning home. Their wheat was rotted in the fields. But Pakistani military commanders insist they have been merciful in their application of "collective punishment". Bulldozers and explosives experts turned Spinkai's bazaar into a mile-long pile of rubble. Petrol stations, shops, and even parts of the hospital were levelled or blown up. The villagers were forbidden from returning to their homes.