Pakistani forces battled militants in South Waziristan on the Afghan border yesterday and a government official said an offensive in the Swat valley could be over in two or three days.
Pakistan has been carrying out its most concerted offensive against an expanding Taliban insurgency, which has raised fears for the stability of the nuclear-armed US ally and the safety of its nuclear arsenal.
The focus of the fighting has been the former tourist destination of Swat, 120km northwest of Islamabad, which the Taliban took as the government alternated between military action and peace pacts.
But tension has also been rising in South Waziristan, an al-Qaeda and Taliban stronghold, with military officials saying an offensive was likely there after Swat was secured.
The US and the Afghan government have been pressing Pakistan to root militants out of South Waziristan and other enclaves on the Afghan border, from where the Taliban direct their Afghan war.
Militants attacked a paramilitary force camp near the town of Jandola, 80km east of Wana, the main town in South Waziristan, late on Saturday, security officials said.
“They carried out a very serious attack on our positions at around midnight. It was repulsed after a heavy exchange of fire,” Pakistani military spokesman Major-General Athar Abbas said.
As many as 15 militants and three soldiers were killed, he said, although an intelligence official in the region said earlier that at least 40 militants and four soldiers were killed. There was no independent confirmation of the casualty estimates.
Militant violence has surged in Pakistan since the middle of 2007, with attacks on the security forces, as well as on government and Western targets.
There have been eight bomb attacks in various towns and cities since the offensive in Swat and neighboring districts began in late April and the Taliban have threatened more.
The offensive in Swat has sparked an exodus of about 2.4 million people, according to government figures, and the country faces a long-term humanitarian crisis. The UN has pleaded for contributions for a US$543 million fund to help.
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