Troops hunt Taliban:

Pakistan says victory near

PAKISTAN: Pakistan’s defence secretary said Sunday that a month-long offensive to crush Taliban fighters in northwest Swat could end within days, as fierce fighting spilled into a nearby tribal area.

Swat valley’s main town Mingora is back in government hands, the military announced late Saturday, and security officials said they were now pursuing the top leadership of the hardline Taliban movement into the nearby mountains.

Secretary of Defence Syed Athar Ali told a security forum in Singapore that three targeted northwest districts were almost clear of Taliban rebels.

“Operations in Swat, Buner and adjoining areas have almost met complete success,” he said.

“Only five to ten percent of the job is remaining and hopefully within the next two to three days these pockets of resistance will be cleared.”

However, chief military spokesman Major General Athar Abbas told AFP that it was impossible to estimate when the offensive would end.

“The operation is continuing in all of the areas and at this stage we cannot give any timeframe,” he said.

The army remains locked in battle in some areas, but the fall of Mingora was a critical milestone in an offensive launched after the Taliban thrust to within 100 kilometres (60 miles) of Islamabad in April.

Pakistan’s military also reported that 25 militants and seven soldiers were killed in clashes in South Waziristan near the Afghan border, a bolt-hole for Taliban and Al-Qaeda-linked militants south of the current army bombardment.

“Miscreants attacked a security forces checkpost last night (Saturday) in Spinkai Raghzai, South Waziristan agency. The attack was repulsed successfully, inflicting heavy casualties on militants,” it said in a statement.

Fifteen militants and three soldiers died in the clash in Spinkai Raghzai, while elsewhere in the semi-autonomous tribal area 10 insurgents and four troops including a lieutenant died when rebels attacked a military convoy.

Civilians have started fleeing the area fearing a fresh military onslaught, but the army has denied an imminent assault on Waziristan, where militants branded by Washington as the greatest terror threat to the West are holed up.

Peshawar, Monday, AFP