ISLAMABAD: Pakistani security forces launched an offensive yesterday to stop the Taleban’s advances in a troubled northwestern region, the military said.
The operation in the North West Frontier Province came amid growing worries in the United States about the stability of its nuclear-armed ally after militants began extending their clout.
“An intense exchange of fire is going on in Lower Dir,” a military spokesman said.
He said scores of militants, including a commander, and a soldier had been killed in the operation.
A military official said the security forces captured the Lal Qila area from the militants after a fierce battle. The operation began after militants opened fire on a convoy of paramilitary Frontier Corps in the region, wounding four soldiers.
“Helicopter gunships are pounding militants’ positions in the hills. There has been intense fighting.
A curfew has been imposed. We are now confined to our houses,” Ali Shah who runs a grocery shop in Timergara, the main town of Lower Dir, told Reuters by telephone.
Lower Dir is part of Malakand division where President Asif Ali Zardari sanctioned the imposition of the Shariah aimed at ending militant violence.
Emboldened by the concession, Taleban fighters moved into the Buner district of Malakand — just 100 km northwest of the Pakistani capital — from the neighboring Swat Valley.
A militant spokesman in Dir said the government offensive was a violation of the peace pact and there would be retaliation. “We know the people who launched this offensive and they are on the top of our hit list. We will not spare them,” militant spokesman Dadullah Mansur said.
