Pak launches fresh operations against Taliban in NWFP

Islamabad, Apr 26: Pakistani troops today launched a fresh offensive against the emboldened Taliban in NWFP and killed "scores of militants" in Swat's neighbouring Dir district, where extremists ambushed a military convoy killing a soldier and injuring five.

"Scores of militants" were killed in a heavy exchange of fire as security forces targetted their hideouts at Islampura and Lal Qila areas in Dir, in an operation launched this morning at the request of the provincial government and the people, the army said.

Dir and Swat districts are part of Malakand division, where the government has agreed to enforce Shariah or Islamic law. However, Presidential spokesperson Farhatullah Babar said the government's peace deal with the Taliban is "intact".

The military operations followed some tough talking by the US which voiced serious concerns over the unchecked advances of Taliban towards the federal capital region.

US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton today said America is pushing the Pakistanis "hard" to come around a strategy "to take the country back," days after she asked the Pakistani leadership of basically abdicating to the advancing Taliban.

The offensive also came amid reports that about 10 per cent of the Taliban who came to Buner from Swat are still present in the area, a day after they announced withdrawal from the area. PTI