Operation launched in Buner: ISPR

ISLAMABAD :Pakistan Army and para-military forces, backed by Pakistan Air Force, have launched an offensive against militants in Buner, the second district of Malakand agency after Lower Dir, said Director-General of the Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR) Major General Athar Abbas, here on Tuesday.

70 MISCREANTS KILLED, 10 FC MEN MARTYRED IN LOWER DIR "The operation against Taliban was launched in the afternoon and the Inspector-General of Frontier Constabulary is heading the operation in which Pak Army and other paramilitary forces are taking part," said Athar Abbas while addressing an official briefing to media.Abbas said that over 70 militants were killed in Lower Dir operation, while 10 security forces personnel were martyred. He said that fighter jets of Pakistan Air Force were also taking part in the operation.

"The terrorist have compelled the government to take the action against them after they entered Buner from Swat and were building bunkers and fortifying their installations in the district," he said, adding: "About 300 militants entered Buner from Swat and captured army checkposts, initiated armed patrolling and were forcefully recruiting local youths in their militia."

Abbas told media that the government would not allow anyone to violate writ of the state, adding that a major offensive had been launched to flush out militants from Buner. He said that the miscreants had threatened the residents and restricted the women to their houses.

"The government issued warnings to them for vacation, but they ignored the warnings. The local residents were living under fear and stress in these circumstances," he added. Abbas also announced the completion of operation in Lower Dir, launched on Sunday, saying that till that time, the militants had been wiped out from the Dir district.

"Military offensive has been concluded in Lower Dir and all the militants have been flushed out from the area. In the operation 70 to 75 insurgents were killed while 10 FC men martyred," he added.

AFP ADD: the United States on Tuesday welcomed Pakistan's military operations against Taliban militants in the north-west and voiced hope the offensive would be sustained.

"We think that the military operations that are under way in Buner and Dir districts are exactly the appropriate response to the offensive operations by the Taliban and other militants over the past few weeks," Pentagon press secretary Geoff Morrell told a news conference. "We are very much encouraging of those efforts and stand ready to help them in any which way that we could."

He added that it was crucial the Pakistani military keep up the offensive and said it was unclear if Taliban forces would be pursued beyond Buner and into the Swat Valley.

"The test of all of these Pakistani military operations - because we've seen them from time to time in the past - is always their sustainability," said Morrell. State Department spokesman Robert Wood said separately that the offensive was more than a gesture of goodwill by President Asif Ali Zardari, who has faced growing criticism in Washington over his response to the militants.

"I don't think it's a question of goodwill. This is something that's in the interest of the government of Pakistan," Wood said. "These Taliban and other extremists have posed an existential threat to Pakistan.