Up to 700 militants killed in Swat offensive: Pak Interior minister

By Farzana Shah-Asian Tribune Correspondent in Pakistan

Islamabad, 12 May, (Asiantribune.com): Interior Minister Rehman Malik earlier said more than 700 militants were killed in Swat in the last four days.

'The operation will continue until the last Talib,' Malik said here on Monday. 'We haven't given them a chance. They are on the run. They were not expecting such an offensive.'

Malik said the government was providing sufficient funds to help the displaced Pakistanis, and brushed aside fears that militants would try to infiltrate relief camps.

'This fear is baseless that they are melting down among the displaced people because we are screening the displaced people,' he said. 'We are registering them with documents, checking each and every individual.'

The United Nations said 360,600 refugees had fled Swat and neighbouring Dir and Buner districts since operations began last week. That figure is on top of some 500,000 people registered as displaced due to past offensives. Meanwhile Pakistani military said Monday that 52 militants had been killed during an offensive against Taliban militants in the northwestern district of Swat in the last 24 hours.

‘(The) operation against miscreants by security forces is making headway...In the last 24 hours, 52 miscreants have been killed and five wounded during the exchange of fire,’ the military said in a statement.
Fighter jets continued to bomb suspected militant positions in Swat, 80 miles northwest of Islamabad, on Monday.

Suspected militant hideouts were attacked in Kanju, Mingora, Venaibaba, Namal, Qambar, Peochar, Fizagath, Tiligram and Chamtalai areas and 50 to 60 militants were killed.

Security forces urged citizens to remain vigilant and said that the terrorists had planted explosive devices in various areas of Mingora and Swat to put the blame of civilian deaths on security forces.

Military authorities said they had secured a large area in Shangla up to Biladram and advancing troops detected IEDs on the Chamtalai bridge where an intense exchange of fire took place.

In Shangla, security forces resumed operation on Sunday from the important heights of 2,245 and 2,266 which had been captured on Saturday and secured the area up to Shalwal Kandao. One soldier died during the clashes.

The ISPR said a training camp of militants in Banai Baba was destroyed and 140 to 150 militants were killed. Troops secured the Shangla Top.

In Dir, troops secured the area from Kala Dag to Haya Sarai and during a clash with militants at Musa Jan and Sarai Kot on Sunday, five militants were killed and one soldier was injured.

Military authorities said ground forces continued to consolidate positions on Gulabad heights and the area between Chakdara Bridge at Landakai had been secured by ground forces. Troops detected and defused three IEDs.

The militants suffered heavy casualties when helicopters attacked their hideouts in Barwada Char, destroying six bunkers and two ammunition dumps.

Troops secured the ridges around Sultanwas and the militants there were surrounded, the ISPR claimed.

According to army about 12,000 to 15,000 troops in Swat face 4,000 to 5,000 militants, including small numbers of foreigners and hardened fighters from the South Waziristan tribal region after the military launched the offensive after the insurgents in Swat used a peace deal to impose their reign in other neighboring areas, including a stretch just 60 miles from Islamabad.

- Asian Tribune -