Trouble in Pakistan
May 9, 2009
The Pakistani military has begun a full-scale offensive against a growing domestic Taliban insurgency and claims to have killed 55 militants and destroyed the Taliban's Swat Valley headquarters.
“Large number of militants were killed, including hardcore elements, and many militants injured,” a senior military official said. “The operation is in full swing.”
On Friday, the military said it had killed more than 140 militants in air and ground attacks. The figures could not be independently confirmed.
The Pakistan military has deployed 15,000 security forces in an effort to eliminate the estimated 5,000 extremist militants in northwest Pakistan. The operations began late last month when the insurgents advanced to within 100 kilometers (60 miles) of the capital, Islamabad.
On a state visit to the United States, Pakistani President Asif Ali Zardari described the escalating conflict as war. “This is an offensive – this is war. If they kill our soldiers, then we do the same,” Zardari told PBS public television on Friday.
On Saturday Prime Minister Yousef Raza Gilani confirmed Pakistan's resolve. “The operation will continue until the elimination of the extremists,” he said, while promising to minimize civilian casualties and take care of those displaced by the conflict.
The United Nations refugee agency has warned of a “massive displacement” of up to one million people, with tens of thousands streaming out of the areas of conflict. Prime Minister Gilani announced a 200-million-rupee ($2.5 million) fund for the displaced.
A military statement claimed that Taliban fighters were “trying to block the exodus of innocent civilians by preventing their departure through coercion, IEDs (improvised explosive devices), roadblocks with trees and even (making them) hostages.”