Pakistani aircraft bombed Taliban positions in Swat yesterday, a day after the prime minister ordered the military to eliminate terrorists and on the heels of a commitment to the US to fight extremists.
Helicopter gunships, fighters and troops were all involved in operations in Swat, and up to 12 militants were killed after as many as 55 were killed the previous day, Major Nasir Khan, a military spokesman in Swat, said by telephone.
Pakistani Prime Minister Yusuf Raza Gilani said in a televised address late on Thursday that militants were trying to hold the country hostage at gunpoint.
PHOTO: REUTERS
“In order to restore the honor and dignity of our homeland and to protect the people, the armed forces have been called in to eliminate the militants and terrorists,” he said, setting the stage for a major offensive against Taliban fighters battling security forces in Swat.
The struggle in the scenic northwestern valley 130km from Islamabad and a former center for tourism has become a test of Pakistan’s resolve to fight a growing Taliban insurgency that has alarmed the US.
Pakistani President Asif Ali Zardari, in talks in Washington this week, assured US President Barack Obama of Islamabad’s commitment to defeating al-Qaeda and its allies.
Pakistani efforts against militants sheltering near the border with Afghanistan are seen as vital to efforts to defeat the insurgency in that country, while increased problems with militants in areas closer to Islamabad, such as Swat, raised concern about the stability of nuclear-armed Pakistan.
“Our gunship helicopters today targeted and destroyed two militant hideouts in Kabal, and we have confirmed reports that 10 to 12 militants have been killed,” Khan said, referring to a militant stronghold 17km northwest of Swat’s main town of Mingora.
He said there was also ground action accompanied by air strikes in other parts of the valley, and an important Taliban commander had been killed the previous day.
Tens of thousands of civilians have fled the fighting this week. With hundreds of thousands already displaced by earlier battles between the government and Islamist militants, aid groups said the new exodus was intensifying a humanitarian crisis.
The UN High Commissioner for Refugees expressed his deep concern about the safety of people displaced by the fighting while the International Committee of the Red Cross said a humanitarian crisis was intensifying.
Gilani did not announce the launching of a specific offensive but said the government would not bow before terrorists and would force them to lay down their arms.
Reinforcements have been arriving in Swat as a peace pact collapsed.
On Wednesday, soldiers launched assaults in the outskirts of Mingora, where the Taliban occupied important buildings.
Authorities agreed in February to a Taliban demand for the introduction of Islamic Shariah law in the valley, but the militants refused to disarm and pushed out of Swat closer to the capital.
Although many Pakistanis have expressed doubts about the need to fight the militants, saying Washington wanted Islamabad to fight its battle, the mood among at least some of them seemed to be shifting.
“If the government is serious in eliminating militants from Swat then we will support the military operation,” said Khalid Khan, a social worker and resident of the Dheri Baba area in Swat.
“We are ready to make every sacrifice if the government really means business this time,” said Gul Omer, a poultry trader, referring to previous, inconclusive military action that was followed by the peace deal.
SEEKING CHANGE: A hospital worker said she did not vote in previous elections, but ‘now I can see that maybe my vote can change the system and the country’ Voting closed yesterday across the Solomon Islands in the south Pacific nation’s first general election since the government switched diplomatic allegiance from Taiwan to Beijing and struck a secret security pact that has raised fears of the Chinese navy gaining a foothold in the region. The Solomon Islands’ closer relationship with China and a troubled domestic economy weighed on voters’ minds as they cast their ballots. As many as 420,000 registered voters had their say across 50 national seats. For the first time, the national vote also coincided with elections for eight of the 10 local governments. Esther Maeluma cast her vote in the
Nearly half of China’s major cities are suffering “moderate to severe” levels of subsidence, putting millions of people at risk of flooding, especially as sea levels rise, according to a study of nationwide satellite data released yesterday. The authors of the paper, published by the journal Science, found that 45 percent of China’s urban land was sinking faster than 3mm per year, with 16 percent at more than 10mm per year, driven not only by declining water tables, but also the sheer weight of the built environment. With China’s urban population already in excess of 900 million people, “even a small portion
UNSETTLING IMAGES: The scene took place in front of TV crews covering the Trump trial, with a CNN anchor calling it an ‘emotional and unbelievably disturbing moment’ A man who doused himself in an accelerant and set himself on fire outside the courthouse where former US president Donald Trump is on trial has died, police said yesterday. The New York City Police Department (NYPD) said the man was declared dead by staff at an area hospital. The man was in Collect Pond Park at about 1:30pm on Friday when he took out pamphlets espousing conspiracy theories, tossed them around, then doused himself in an accelerant and set himself on fire, officials and witnesses said. A large number of police officers were nearby when it happened. Some officers and bystanders rushed
HYPOCRISY? The Chinese Ministry of Foreign Affairs yesterday asked whether Biden was talking about China or the US when he used the word ‘xenophobic’ US President Joe Biden on Wednesday called for a hike in steel tariffs on China, accusing Beijing of cheating as he spoke at a campaign event in Pennsylvania. Biden accused China of xenophobia, too, in a speech to union members in Pittsburgh. “They’re not competing, they’re cheating. They’re cheating and we’ve seen the damage here in America,” Biden said. Chinese steel companies “don’t need to worry about making a profit because the Chinese government is subsidizing them so heavily,” he said. Biden said he had called for the US Trade Representative to triple the tariff rates for Chinese steel and aluminum if Beijing was