Fighting intensifies in Pakistan's anti-Taliban offensive (Roundup)

Nov 5, 2009, 11:22 GMT

Islamabad - Pakistani troops fought pitched street battles Thursday as they cleared Taliban bases in the troubled South Waziristan district near the Afghan border, the army said.

   Ground forces backed by jet aircraft and helicopter gunships launched a three-pronged assault in mid-October to rout Islamist militants in the rugged tribal region, which is described as a global hub of al-Qaeda and Taliban fighters.

   The military said Thursday afternoon that 28 militants were killed in clashes taking place on at least three fronts during the previous 24 hours.

   Intense gunfights were reported in the strategic town of Sararogha, where troops killed 16 militants and captured five in continuing fighting, the army said.

   Since moving into the area this week, infantry units had been facing tough resistance from the militants, who had deployed mines and roadsides bombs to slow down the troop movement.

   A blast took place during the clearance operation, leaving five soldiers, including an officer, dead and two wounded, the military said.

   Security forces also secured a fort in Ladha, another besieged town in the region.

   The fresh casualties that the army claimed it had inflicted on the rebels took the overall death toll in the three-week offensive to 422. Forty-two soldiers have died, and scores more have been wounded in combat, the army said.

   Casualty figures given by the army are hard to confirm independently because the conflict zone is closed to journalists and relief agencies.

   Government officials blamed the Taliban umbrella group Tehrik-e-Taliban Pakistan, which has its nerve centres in South Waziristan, for 80 per cent of the terrorist attacks taking place in Pakistani cities.

   Pakistan has announced cash rewards totalling 5 million dollars for information leading to the arrests or killings of Taliban leader Hakimullah Mehsud and 18 other commanders.

   The government assault in the ethnic Pashtun region has forced more than 200,000 people from their homes with humanitarian aid agencies struggling to access the refugees.

   The United Nations decided this week to reduce the presence of its international staff in Pakistan's troubled north-west, citing security concerns.

   Commentators said they fear the militants might intensify their bombing campaign in a bid to pressure the government to end the assault.

   More than 300 people, mostly civilians, have died in militant strikes since October.

   The United States has applauded Pakistan's offensive in Waziristan after long pressing the lone nuclear-armed Islamic country to eliminate militant hideouts in the region.

   The US itself has carried out dozens of aerial attacks inside Pakistan's tribal badlands to take out Taliban and al-Qaeda fighters.

   A similar missile strike hit a Taliban hideout in the North Waziristan district early Thursday, killing at least four militants, a Pakistani official said.

   Two missiles believed to have been fired from a US-operated Predator drone struck a house Wednesday in Norak, a village in the region's Mir Ali area.

   It was not immediately clear whether the assault was aimed at any high-value target.

   Islamabad publicly condemns the US raids, which are rarely confirmed by Washington. Pakistani officials say the drone attacks violate the country's sovereignty and ignite anti-American sentiment among Pakistanis.