Related News

Home » World

Pakistan steps up strike against Taliban

PAKISTANI air strikes killed dozens of Taliban fighters in a fierce struggle to drive them from near the capital, while the militants took over police stations and kidnapped more than 50 security forces, the army said.

One member of the security forces also died in the fighting, the top military spokesman said.

Pakistan is acting under intense pressure from the United States to take a tougher line against Islamist militants expanding from strongholds along the Afghan border, where al-Qaida leaders including Osama bin Laden may also be hiding.

In recent days, government forces have begun trying to force the Taliban back into the Swat Valley, from where they had pushed toward Islamabad under the cover of a controversial peace process.

Major General Athar Abbas said helicopters inserted commandos into the main town in Buner, a once-peaceful farming region in the northwest, yesterday morning just as ground troops fought their way in.

Militants were putting up stiff resistance and detonated three roadside bombs near the Ambela Pass, a key gateway to the mountainous region. Three more troops were injured.

After warplanes carried out air strikes late on Tuesday, attack helicopters engaged "miscreants" and killed more than 50, Abbas said.

Militants seized three police stations in the north of Buner on Tuesday and kidnapped 70 police and paramilitary troops. Eighteen of the troops were "recovered" yesterday, according to the general.




 

Copyright © 1999- Shanghai Daily. All rights reserved.Preferably viewed with Internet Explorer 8 or newer browsers.

沪公网安备 31010602000204号

Email this to your friend