|
Pakistan steps up Swat
offensive
WSN Network
 PESHAWAR:
Pakistan's army pressed on with an offensive against the Taliban,
saying it had killed more than 700 militants, even as a suicide
bomber killed 10 people at a security checkpost.
The offensive in
the Swat valley, 130 km northwest of Islamabad, is being seen as a
test of the government's resolve to get grips over an intensifying
Taliban insurgency and comes after the United States accused it of
"abdicating" to the militants.
The fighting has
sparked a civilian exodus from the former tourist valley, raising
fears of a humanitarian crisis. At least 360,000 people have left
their homes in recent days and in all about 500,000 are expected to
flee. They join about 600,000 people displaced earlier from Swat and
other areas because of fighting since August, raising fears of a
long-term problem for a country already being propped up by a $7.6
billion International Monetary Fund loan.
Meanwhile, Prime
Minister Yusuf Raza Gilani told the National Assembly the government
would organise a conference of aid donors to marshal funds for the
displaced. The army launched a full-scale offensive in Swat on
Thursday after a peace pact broke down and the government ordered
troops to eliminate the militants. Interior Ministry chief Rehman
Malik said 700 Taliban and 20 soldiers had been killed.
|
A major
military operation in
Pakistan's
restive northwest region has killed around 700 Taliban militants
and the offensive will continue till all the terrorists are
eliminated, Interior Minister Rehman Malik said.
|
|
Up to 15,000
troops have now been deployed in the Swat valley and neighbouring
areas to take on up to 5,000 militants. An army spokesman said that
troops had been airlifted by army helicopters had landed in Peochar
but refused to reveal any more operational details.
Most reporters
have left Swat and there was no independent confirmation of that
estimate of militant casualties which was higher than figures the
military has been providing. The army said 52 militants had been
killed in Swat over the past 24 hours.
The offensive
was launched after President Asif Ali Zardari visited Washington
assuring a nervous United States that his government was not about
to collapse and was committed to fighting militancy. Action by a
nuclear-armed Pakistan against militants in its northwest is vital
for U.S.
efforts to defeat Al Qaeda and stabilise
Afghanistan
but have come at a heavy price.
While most
political parties and many members of the public support the
offensive, that could change, however, if the civilians displaced in
what the government say is the country's largest-ever internal
migration are seen to be suffering unduly or if many civilians are
killed in the fighting.
The U.N. refugee
agency said 360,000 people had registered with authorities after
fleeing the latest surge in violence, with about 20,000 of them
staying in camps.
“That figure is
rising," said Ariane Rummery, a spokeswoman for the U.N. High
Commissioner for Refugees. "We see people on the move and know that
more are coming.”
13
May 2009
|
Read Also