Pak troops enter key Taliban base in Swat as civilians vacate

A large number of people left Matta following the warning.

Interior Minister Malik,who visited Mardan to take stock of the situation at relief camps in the area,told reporters that over 1,000 militants had been killed so far in the drive against Taliban in Buner,Dir and Swat districts.

Security forces backed by attack helicopters entered Matta from three directions and inflicted “heavy casualties” among the militants,TV news channels quoted officials as saying. They said they hoped to take control of the town by Monday.

There was,however,no official word on the operations in the area.

Heavy artillery,gunship helicopters and jets continued to pound militant positions across Swat and troops also pushed their offensive against the rebels in Peochar,a remote mountainous area where local Taliban commander Maulana Fazlullah is believed to be hiding.

Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani on Saturday said that the ongoing military action was vital for Pakistan’s survival.

“We can’t afford to lose the war. Inshallah we will win,as otherwise the country’s survival is at stake,” Gilani told a meeting of the top leadership of the ruling PPP convened to take stock of the security situation in the country.

“They (Taliban) wanted to make a state within state. They were working on a foreign agenda,” he said.

Malik on Sunday said fresh recruits were abandoning Taliban ranks and several training camps and militant headquarters had been destroyed in Swat and other parts of NWFP.

Claiming that troops had cleared Buner and Dir districts as well as the area up to Khwazakhela in Swat,he asked people to return to their homes in these areas,assuring them of complete security.

The action taken against Taliban was the “need of the hour,” Malik said,adding that operations would be completed “as soon as possible”. He,however,refused to set a timeframe for this.

“We will ensure that the militants are flushed out. I mean business and they will be given no quarter,” he said. The militants should lay down their arms or else they would be killed,he added.

Security forces are “going to hit Taliban commanders” and they would not be spared,Malik said. The government would also respond strongly to any attacks in other parts of the country in retaliation for the operations,he said.

Malik said the government launched operations against Taliban only after two failed attempts to hold talks with the militants. There were “glaring violations” of the peace deal in Swat and government was left with only two options “to fight it out or hand over the country to Taliban,” he said.

Anti-Pakistan forces are using the Taliban to destabilise the country and the militants were receiving weapons and equipment from across the border with Afghanistan,Malik said.

Meanwhile,intelligence and law enforcement agencies captured four terrorists from two areas in Mardan and recovered weapons from their possession.

Three terrorists were captured at Sher Garh with grenades and explosives in their possession,while another was caught during a raid in Takht Bhai.