PESHAWAR: US drones attacked militants in northwest Pakistan twice on Wednesday, killing more than 30 fighters, security officials said, while the army said the Taleban chief in Swat Valley Maulana Fazlullah had been wounded.
The attacks by the pilotless aircraft were in the South Waziristan region on the Afghan border, a stronghold of Pakistani Taleban leader and Al-Qaeda ally Baitullah Mehsud.
The United States, grappling with an intensifying Afghan insurgency, began stepping up attacks by drones on northwestern Pakistani militant enclaves a year ago.
A drone fired several missiles at a militant convoy in the second attack of the day, Pakistani intelligence officials said.
“The Taleban appeared to be shifting to another place when they were hit,” said one of the agency officials. Another official said 25 to 30 militants were killed.
Earlier on Wednesday, US drones fired six missiles into a Pakistani Taleban training camp in another part of South Waziristan, killing six militants, government and intelligence agency officials said.
There were no reports of any “high-value target” being killed in either of the drone attacks.
But a Pakistani military spokesman said the leader of the Taleban in Swat, Fazlullah, had been wounded in an air strike by Pakistani aircraft there on Monday.
“In one of the strikes Fazlullah has been injured,” military spokesman Maj.-Gen. Athar Abbas told a briefing, citing “credible information.”
A fiery cleric, Fazlullah, has been on the run since the military launched the offensive in the former tourist valley.
Abbas said the offensive in Swat had entered its final phase after 158 soldiers had been killed. But no top Taleban leaders have been among the approximately 1,600 militants the army has reported killed, leading to fears the fighters could re-emerge.
Independent casualty estimates are not available.
But Abbas said the Taleban leaders would not make a comeback: “There is absolutely zero possibility of this leadership returning to the valley,” he said.
The fighting has forced nearly two million people from their homes. While public backing for the offensive is solid, there is a danger the suffering of the displaced could sap some support.
UN Undersecretary-General for Humanitarian Affairs John Holmes visited some of the displaced people and told reporters Pakistan needed to ensure appropriate conditions, especially security, were in place before encouraging people to go home.
Many displaced are wary about going back.
“The government is saying they have control over Swat but that’s not really the case,” said mechanic Anwar Ali, 29, camped out in a crowded school in the town of Mardan with his family.
