Army engaged in 'full-scale' operation against Swat Taliban

ISLAMABAD: Pakistan army says it has killed 143 militants during the military offensive in Swat in the last twenty four hours.

Addressing a press conference on Friday evening, Army spokesman Major General Athar Abbas says the security forces will remain in the valley untill the government's writ is established.

‘The army is now engaged in a full-scale operation to eliminate miscreants,’ Major General Athar Abbas said.

‘They are on the run and trying to block the exodus of civilians from the area. During the last 24 hours approximately over 140 militants have been killed in different areas,’ he said.

It was impossible to confirm the death toll independently, given the ongoing operations across three districts — Swat, Buner and Lower Dir — in northwest Pakistan where the military has launched offensives against Taliban militants, according to AFP.

Security forces carried out a massive air operation and sent fresh troops into Swat in the wake of PM Gilani’s announcement that ‘decisive steps would be taken’ to address the growing militancy.

DawnNews quoted army sources as saying that a curfew from 8pm to 6am had been imposed in the troubled region to prevent Taliban fighters from escaping as wave after wave of attack helicopters and artillery shells pounded suspected militant hideouts.

Major General Athar Abbas told DawnNews that the security forces were attempting to take out key Taliban leaders in the valley, and that they were acting on the orders of the government to ‘eliminate’ the terrorists. The spokesman went on to say that Swat’s militants had received terrorist training from Al-Qaeda, who have also been funding militants in Waziristan.

Abbas earlier said that the army had killed at least 12 militants in clashes near their stronghold in Kabal Tehsil, and that militant training centers in the mountains have been targeted and destroyed.

Humanitarian crisis feared

The United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees expressed his deep concern about the safety of people displaced by the fighting while the International Committee of the Red Cross said a humanitarian crisis was intensifying, Reuters reported.

Medical charity Medecins Sans Frontieres said it had to halt its emergency medical care because of the fighting which had trapped untold numbers of people in their homes.

Many fled when the authorities relaxed a curfew.

‘We can’t stay here when bombs are falling,’ said resident Mohammad Hayat Khan as he loaded his family of 14 onto a pick-up truck. He said there had been shelling near his home.

Many others were heading out of Mingora on foot, loaded up with whatever they could carry.