South Asia News
Pakistan army kills 75 militants in north-west valley (Roundup)
Nov 21, 2007, 18:18 GMT
Islamabad - Pakistan's army claimed Wednesday it killed up to 75 militants in the overnight actions against armed supporters of a pro-Taliban cleric in the restive Swat valley in the north-west of the country.
'Our forces targeted militant positions in the Shangla area on Tuesday night and Wednesday morning with artillery and mortar fire. Our local sources reported that up to 75 insurgents died in the operation,' chief military spokesman Major General Waheed Arshad said.
'Some miscreants fired 18 to 20 rockets at our troops, which repelled the attack with retaliatory fire. No casualties were reported,' Arshad added.
Nine civilians also died in the battle, Pakistan's Aaj news channel said, although there was no official confirmation of the reports.
The military action in Swat began in late October when government troops were dispatched to the valley to rein in firebrand cleric Maulana Fazlullah and armed supporters the military says have joined him from the border region by Afghanistan.
Fazlullah has been using an illegal radio station to call for the imposition of sharia law and attacks on security forces after the army stormed Islamabad's radical Red Mosque in July, killing 100 extremists.
More than 300 people, including dozens of army and police personnel, have died in the operations in Swat valley.
© 2007 dpa - Deutsche Presse-AgenturCOMMENT
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kupalaNov 22nd, 2007 - 09:45:22
The militants must be vanquished.
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