Pak launches fresh operations against Taliban in NWFP

Pakistani troops on Sunday launched a fresh offensive against the emboldened Taliban in NWFP and killed "scores of militants" in Swat's neighbouring Dir district, where extremists ambushed a military convoy killing a soldier and injuring five.

"Scores of militants" were killed in a heavy exchange of fire as security forces targetted their hideouts at Islampura and Lal Qila areas in Dir, in an operation launched this morning at the request of the provincial government and the people, the army said.

Dir and Swat districts are part of Malakand division, where the government has agreed to enforce Shariah or Islamic law. However, Presidential spokesperson Farhatullah Babar said the government's peace deal with the Taliban is "intact".

The military operations followed some tough talking by the US which voiced serious concerns over the unchecked advances of Taliban towards the federal capital region.

US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton on Sunday said America is pushing the Pakistanis "hard" to come around a strategy "to take the country back," days after she asked the Pakistani leadership of basically abdicating to the advancing Taliban.

The offensive also came amid reports that about 10 per cent of the Taliban who came to Buner from Swat are still present in the area, a day after they announced withdrawal from the area.

An "important local commander" was among those killed at Kala Dag. One security personnel was also killed, said a statement from the Inter-Services Public Relations.

"Intense exchange of fire" was continuing at Lal Qila, it said. Media reports said five militants, including commander Maulvi Shahid, were killed in the air strike.

The clashes occurred near Maidan, the hometown of religious hardliner and Tehrik-e-Nifaz-e-Shariah Muhammadi chief Sufi Muhammad, who has been negotiating with the Taliban.

Muhammad slammed the government for violating the peace deal in the region and warned that the country might soon turn into another Afghanistan.

"This is a sheer violation of the peace agreement. If the government continues with the same policies this country will soon become Afghanistan," he was quoted as saying.

Meanwhile, in Buner local militants shaved off the heads and moustaches of four men as a punishment for listening to music, the Dawn reported, even as the hardline group that mediated the Swat peace accord sought general amnesty for the Taliban in the valley.

The TNSM is holding talks with the government on the option of announcing a general amnesty for the Taliban in the Swat valley in exchange for the militants laying down arms, The News daily said on Sunday.

Meanwhile, the Inter-Services Public Relations said the bodies of 10 militants killed in the fresh offensive in the NWFP had been found by the troops.

Interior ministry chief Rehman Malik said the activities of the Taliban forced the government to take action against them. "We have decided to flush the militants out. Enough is enough," he said.

He asked the Taliban to lay down their arms or face tough action as the government would not allow anyone to challenge its writ. The "militants have no option except to lay down their arms because the government is serious about flushing them out", he said.

Malik dismissed the impression that the government had launched the operation due to pressure from the US. He said the operation was conducted on the request of the provincial government. "The federal government only intervenes on the request of the provincial government and the operation in Dir was carried out on the request of the NWFP government."

He said Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani too had made it clear that the peace deal in Swat was linked to restoration of peace in the area. He said Sufi Muhammad had promised the government that he would ask the Taliban in Swat to lay down their arms.

Malik expressed the hope that Sufi Muhammad would honour his promise. "We have given a chance to peace in Swat. If peace is not restored in the area, action shall be taken against the militants," he added.