Pakistani forces yesterday pounded suspected militant hideouts after the Taliban suspended talks with the government over the Swat valley, the military said.
Paramilitary troops and helicopter gunships bombed the suspected bases in Lower Dir for the second day running, a military official said.
“Helicopter gunships targeted different militant hideouts but there were no immediate reports of any casualties,” the official said on condition of anonymity.
PHOTO: EPA
The Taliban had earlier suspended talks with the government demanding the army halt its latest operation against militants in which around 30 insurgents have been killed, said Ameer Izzat Khan, a spokesman for a cleric who negotiated a peace deal between the two sides.
The talks were aimed at restoring peace in the Malakand region, which includes the district of Swat, after Taliban fighters infiltrated nearby Buner town despite the peace deal signed with the provincial government in February.
The government had insisted the militants lay down their arms after it agreed to implement Islamic justice system in the region. Interior Minister Rehman Malik accused the militants of violating the deal.
The Pakistan military, under US pressure to stop the advance of the extremists in the region, launched its offensive against Taliban militants in the northwest of the country on Sunday.
“Our council of leaders met on Sunday night and decided to suspend peace negotiations with the government in North West Frontier Province,” Khan said.
“We, however, still adhere to the February deal,” that put 3 million people under Islamic law, he said.
Despite the deal, Taliban militants took control yesterday of a telephone exchange in Behrain town, 30km north of Swat valley, police officials said.
“About 30 armed Taliban took control of a telephone exchange in Behrain Monday morning,” a police official said on condition of anonymity.
Meanwhile, Pakistani President Asif Ali Zardari yesterday ruled out the possibility of his country’s nuclear weapons falling into the hands of the Taliban.
“I want to assure the world that the nuclear capability of Pakistan is under safe hands,” he told a panel interview with international media.
The Taliban’s creeping advances towards Islamabad in recent weeks heightened fears in the US about the stability of its nuclear-armed ally.
Zardari also said Pakistani intelligence believed al-Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden was dead but had no evidence.
“The Americans tell me they don’t know and they are much more equipped than us to trace him. And our own intelligence services obviously think that he does not exist any more, that he is dead,” Zardari told reporters.
“But there is no evidence, you cannot take that as a fact,” he said. “We are between facts and fiction.”
BACKLASH: The National Party quit its decades-long partnership with the Liberal Party after their election loss to center-left Labor, which won a historic third term Australia’s National Party has split from its conservative coalition partner of more than 60 years, the Liberal Party, citing policy differences over renewable energy and after a resounding loss at a national election this month. “Its time to have a break,” Nationals leader David Littleproud told reporters yesterday. The split shows the pressure on Australia’s conservative parties after Prime Minister Anthony Albanese’s center-left Labor party won a historic second term in the May 3 election, powered by a voter backlash against US President Donald Trump’s policies. Under the long-standing partnership in state and federal politics, the Liberal and National coalition had shared power
CONTROVERSY: During the performance of Israel’s entrant Yuval Raphael’s song ‘New Day Will Rise,’ loud whistles were heard and two people tried to get on stage Austria’s JJ yesterday won the Eurovision Song Contest, with his operatic song Wasted Love triumphing at the world’s biggest live music television event. After votes from national juries around Europe and viewers from across the continent and beyond, JJ gave Austria its first victory since bearded drag performer Conchita Wurst’s 2014 triumph. After the nail-biting drama as the votes were revealed running into yesterday morning, Austria finished with 436 points, ahead of Israel — whose participation drew protests — on 357 and Estonia on 356. “Thank you to you, Europe, for making my dreams come true,” 24-year-old countertenor JJ, whose
NO EXCUSES: Marcos said his administration was acting on voters’ demands, but an academic said the move was emotionally motivated after a poor midterm showing Philippine President Ferdinand Marcos Jr yesterday sought the resignation of all his Cabinet secretaries, in a move seen as an attempt to reset the political agenda and assert his authority over the second half of his single six-year term. The order came after the president’s allies failed to win a majority of Senate seats contested in the 12 polls on Monday last week, leaving Marcos facing a divided political and legislative landscape that could thwart his attempts to have an ally succeed him in 2028. “He’s talking to the people, trying to salvage whatever political capital he has left. I think it’s
A documentary whose main subject, 25-year-old photojournalist Fatima Hassouna, was killed in an Israeli airstrike in Gaza weeks before it premiered at Cannes stunned viewers into silence at the festival on Thursday. As the cinema lights came back on, filmmaker Sepideh Farsi held up an image of the young Palestinian woman killed with younger siblings on April 16, and encouraged the audience to stand up and clap to pay tribute. “To kill a child, to kill a photographer is unacceptable,” Farsi said. “There are still children to save. It must be done fast,” the exiled Iranian filmmaker added. With Israel