Pakistan retakes key town, kills over 50 Taliban militants
29 April 2009 2355 hrs
PESHAWAR: Pakistan said on Wednesday that its troops have seized control of the main town in the northwest region of Buner after fierce fighting with Taliban in which over 50 militants were killed.
The fighting came after the military on Tuesday launched a ground and air offensive in Buner, near the troubled Swat valley, to flush out militants from the area.
Troops also recovered 18 of around 70 police and paramilitaries abducted by militants in the area Tuesday, chief military spokesman Major General Athar Abbas told a news briefing.
"We have received reports of more than 50 casualties since yesterday," he said, adding that troops also destroyed two explosives dumps.
Up to 500 Taliban militants entered Buner earlier this month and imposed sharia law in what the Pakistani military called a "violation" of an agreement struck earlier in the year with Islamists to bring peace to the region.
The operation to flush out the rebels and prevent them gaining ground in the troubled country had the full backing of Washington, which has put Pakistan at the heart of the battle against terrorists and Al-Qaeda militants.
Abbas said troops had "successfully secured Dagar," the main town in Buner district, and established links with police and paramilitary soldiers there, but militants were occupying three police stations in nearby villages.
One security officer had died in "fierce fighting" with the militants and three others have been wounded, he added.
"We are restrained by the fact that militants have made the people of Buner hostages," he said.
Abbas said an Arab correspondent of Al-Jazeera TV, Abdul Rehman Matar, was wounded after his vehicle was caught up in crossfire in Dagar.
"This is very unfortunate incident. He was given medical treatment and he is stable now," the general said adding that Matar's other colleagues were safe.
The United States had branded the Taliban's advance "an existential threat" to Pakistan, and US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton warned that the government was "basically abdicating to the Taliban and to the extremists."
The latest Pakistani military operation launched Tuesday comes after a similar offensive mounted in nearby Lower Dir over the weekend that swelled the number of people displaced by fighting in northwest Pakistan.
Washington earlier hailed the military operations as "exactly the appropriate response" to halt the Taliban's advance in nuclear-armed Pakistan, Pentagon spokesman Geoff Morrell said.
"We are very much encouraging of those efforts," Morrell said. "We hope they can sustain these operations."
The threat of Taliban militants making further inroads into Pakistan could deepen the reservations shared by the White House and its Western allies about the peace deal in nearby Swat valley.
Islamabad in February agreed that Islamic sharia law could be enforced in Swat and its surrounding districts in a deal aimed at ending two years of a bloody rebellion led by radical cleric Maulana Fazlullah.
As well as encouraging military moves to stop the spread of the Taliban, the US also hopes to help stabilise Pakistan with non-military assistance.
However, on Tuesday hopes faded for an emergency package of US aid after some US lawmakers doubted whether the proposed funds would have the intended effect in Pakistan.
Meanwhile, there were continuing fears for civilians made homeless by military operations in the region, with witnesses Wednesday saying the Pakistani military were using helicopters to shell suspected hideouts.
The offensive mounted in Lower Dir, in which around 70 militants and 10 security personnel died, has now been completed, Abbas said.
The Taliban reacted bitterly to the government operation in Buner saying that the militants were resisting and "reserve the right to retaliate."
They said the Swat deal remained intact until abrogated by the elderly cleric Sufi Mohammad, who had negotiated it.
"We are still abiding by the agreement. But if it is revoked by Sufi Mohammad, we will resume our jihad (holy war) against the government, like in the past," said Muslim Khan, a local Taliban spokesman. - AFP/de
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