Pakistani Taliban Repel Government Offensive

[AlphaCentauri]

Source: NYT

Taliban fighters forced Pakistani soldiers to retreat from a militants’ stronghold near the border with Afghanistan over the weekend, after a three-day battle sent civilians fleeing from government airstrikes.
The pullback from Bajaur, an area of Pakistan’s tribal region where the Taliban and Al Qaeda have forged particularly close ties, came after the military began an offensive there late last week.

Military spokesmen said 6 soldiers had been killed, though the Pakistani Taliban put the number at 22. It was unclear how many civilians had died.

The clash was the second in two weeks between government forces and the Taliban. The army has been trying to push the Taliban out of Swat, an area east of the tribal region, where a two-month-old peace agreement between the government of the North-West Frontier Province and the Taliban is in shreds.



Read more: http://www.nytimes.com/2008/08/11/world/asia/11pstan.html?ref=asia