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Pakistan Army Takes Fight to Taliban |
Pakistan - 06.05.2009, 23:58:43 |
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The anti-Taliban operations continue in Swat Valley after militants seized key government offices and looted banks in the troubled northwest
The anti-Taliban operations continue in Swat Valley after militants seized key government offices and looted banks in the troubled northwest Pakistan.
Pakistani gunship helicopters pounded the positions of militant fighters near an emerald mine in Mingora, a key strategic town in Swat Valley, Press TV has learned.
People were fleeing in panic from the military-hit region and around 100,000 have so far moved to safer places. At least eight people were killed as the shells landed on houses.
Ground forces have reportedly advanced toward the emerald mine area and targeted the hideouts of militants with artillery shelling and gunship fire.
Taliban fighters have occupied the Rahimabad police station and offices of the commissioner and the District Nazim.
The militants have also cordoned off the residences of the Malakand commissioner and high-ranking police officials of the troubled district.
Pakistan orders Swat Valley evacuation
About 40,000 civilians have evacuated a major town in northwest Pakistan amid fears of a fresh military offensive against Taliban militants.
"More than 40,000 have migrated from Mingora since Tuesday afternoon," said Khushhal Khan, a senior administration official in Mingora.
It is expected that in all a total of 500,000 civilians will flee the Swat Valley region after the government issued an evacuation order ahead of an expected military offensive in the Taliban-dominated region.
On Tuesday, the US pressed Pakistan to confront Taliban militants whose influence is spreading in the nuclear-armed country and reassuringly confirmed that it solidly supports Pakistani President Asif Ali Zardari.
"Pakistan must demonstrate its commitment to rooting out al-Qaeda and the violent extremists within its borders," Richard Holbrooke, the US special representative for Afghanistan and Pakistan, said in a prepared congressional testimony.
US President Barack Obama will meet the Afghan and Pakistani presidents in Washington on Wednesday for talks expected to focus on fighting the Taliban's insurgency in Afghanistan as well as its growing influence in neighboring Pakistan.
The three-way talks will aim to promote cooperation between Afghanistan and Pakistan, which Taliban militants use as a base to attack Afghan targets, and ease US concerns about Pakistan's stability.
US officials are worried about the strength of Pakistan's Taliban militants, who have advanced beyond a stronghold in Swat Valley, to the Buner district, 60 miles (97 km) northwest of the capital Islamabad.
isra haber
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