ISLAMABAD: Helicopter gunships and mortar teams pounded militant strongholds, killing dozens outside emerald mines and in a district near the capital, the military said, as Taleban reinforcements poured down from their mountain hide-outs.
The military said yesterday’s offensive killed about 35 militants positioned near emerald mines in the Swat Valley and 27 in neighboring Buner, where troops have halted a Taleban push toward the capital Islamabad.
The Taleban killed two soldiers with a roadside bomb and two more in an assault on a power plant near Mingora, a military statement said. “Armed militants have come down from their hide-outs into the cities and have occupied civil houses and government buildings” as well as planting bombs to target both troops and civilians, it said.
As the army began taking the fight to militants entrenched about 100 kilometers from the capital, Pakistan’s leader prepared to hear demands from President Barack Obama for forceful action from a struggling ally.
The army actions in the Swat Valley and Buner will please Washington, which is urging Pakistan to crack down on militants blamed for rising violence at home and in Afghanistan, experts say.
Since fighting broke out Tuesday, thousands of men, women and children have fled the region’s main town of Mingora and surrounding districts, fearing an imminent major military operation. The government said it believes refugees could reach 500,000.
The provincial government said it was scrambling to shelter up to 500,000 people they expect to flee Swat and local officials confirmed yesterday that tens of thousands had streamed out of the district in less than 24 hours. The Director General of Crisis Management Cell Farooq Khan told journalists in Islamabad that federal and provincial governments had already made adequate arrangements for temporary accommodation of dislocated people.
“Many people with their families, belonging and cattle have taken refuge in Mardan and Hathian.
The federal government was providing all kinds of help and assistance to provincial government of the NWFP,” he said.
The clashes followed the collapse of a 3-month-old truce in Swat that was widely criticized in the West as a surrender to the militants, who had fought the army to a standstill in two years of clashes that saw hundreds of civilian casualties.
It is uncertain whether the Pakistani public has the stomach for a long battle. The truce gave militants time to rest and reinforce their positions and any operation would involve fierce fighting in urban areas and would likely cause significant civilian casualties and property damage. The Swat Taleban are estimated to have up to 7,000 fighters against some 15,000 troops who until recent days had been confined to their barracks under the peace deal.
The militant casualty figures could not be verified independently, and there was no official word on deaths or injuries among civilians.
An Associated Press reporter in Mingora said gun and mortar fire started Tuesday and continued through the night into yesterday. An intelligence official said helicopters and mortar teams were pounding militant positions in Mingora and other parts of Swat.
“The situation is very tense there. Taleban are present at the homes of local residents. They are also present at strategic positions. They are using light weapons to ambush troops,” said the official on condition of anonymity as he was not authorized to speak to media.
Army spokesman Maj. Gen. Athar Abbas declined to say whether the events heralded the start of major operations, saying only that “all the contingency plans are worked out” for carrying one out.
In recent days, however, there have been signs the mood toward the Taleban is changing. Many politicians, commentators and religious leaders now say the movement’s true nature was exposed by its refusal to go along with the peace deal despite the government’s best efforts.
Pakistan agreed to a truce in the valley in February. As part of the agreement, the government imposed Islamic law last month in the region in hope insurgents would lay down their arms — something they did not do.
— With input from agencies
ISLAMABAD: Helicopter gunships and mortar teams pounded militant strongholds, killing dozens outside emerald mines and in a district near the capital, the military said, as Taleban reinforcements poured down from their mountain hide-outs.
The military said yesterday’s offensive killed about 35 militants positioned near emerald mines in the Swat Valley and 27 in neighboring Buner, where troops have halted a Taleban push toward the capital Islamabad.
The Taleban killed two soldiers with a roadside bomb and two more in an assault on a power plant near Mingora, a military statement said. “Armed militants have come down from their hide-outs into the cities and have occupied civil houses and government buildings” as well as planting bombs to target both troops and civilians, it said.
As the army began taking the fight to militants entrenched about 100 kilometers from the capital, Pakistan’s leader prepared to hear demands from President Barack Obama for forceful action from a struggling ally.
The army actions in the Swat Valley and Buner will please Washington, which is urging Pakistan to crack down on militants blamed for rising violence at home and in Afghanistan, experts say.
Since fighting broke out Tuesday, thousands of men, women and children have fled the region’s main town of Mingora and surrounding districts, fearing an imminent major military operation. The government said it believes refugees could reach 500,000.
The provincial government said it was scrambling to shelter up to 500,000 people they expect to flee Swat and local officials confirmed yesterday that tens of thousands had streamed out of the district in less than 24 hours. The Director General of Crisis Management Cell Farooq Khan told journalists in Islamabad that federal and provincial governments had already made adequate arrangements for temporary accommodation of dislocated people.
“Many people with their families, belonging and cattle have taken refuge in Mardan and Hathian.
The federal government was providing all kinds of help and assistance to provincial government of the NWFP,” he said.
The clashes followed the collapse of a 3-month-old truce in Swat that was widely criticized in the West as a surrender to the militants, who had fought the army to a standstill in two years of clashes that saw hundreds of civilian casualties.
It is uncertain whether the Pakistani public has the stomach for a long battle. The truce gave militants time to rest and reinforce their positions and any operation would involve fierce fighting in urban areas and would likely cause significant civilian casualties and property damage. The Swat Taleban are estimated to have up to 7,000 fighters against some 15,000 troops who until recent days had been confined to their barracks under the peace deal.
The militant casualty figures could not be verified independently, and there was no official word on deaths or injuries among civilians.
An Associated Press reporter in Mingora said gun and mortar fire started Tuesday and continued through the night into yesterday. An intelligence official said helicopters and mortar teams were pounding militant positions in Mingora and other parts of Swat.
“The situation is very tense there. Taleban are present at the homes of local residents. They are also present at strategic positions. They are using light weapons to ambush troops,” said the official on condition of anonymity as he was not authorized to speak to media.
Army spokesman Maj. Gen. Athar Abbas declined to say whether the events heralded the start of major operations, saying only that “all the contingency plans are worked out” for carrying one out.
In recent days, however, there have been signs the mood toward the Taleban is changing. Many politicians, commentators and religious leaders now say the movement’s true nature was exposed by its refusal to go along with the peace deal despite the government’s best efforts.
Pakistan agreed to a truce in the valley in February. As part of the agreement, the government imposed Islamic law last month in the region in hope insurgents would lay down their arms — something they did not do.
— With input from agencies
