Pakistani army claims Taliban's elimination in Swat valley imminent

[Turborama]

Source: Guardian

The Pakistani army has encircled the Taliban in a number of strongholds across the Swat valley, a senior army officer said yesterday as the UN launched a $543m appeal for 2 million people displaced by the conflict.

"The noose is very tight around them. They are taking casualties every day," said Major General Sajjid Ghani, who leads the fight in the northern half of the valley. "We are closing in on them and we will eliminate them."

To prove the point, the army flew reporters to a mountain peak with a commanding view over the valley it had captured two days earlier after a 12-hour battle. Ghani pointed out several recently captured villages including Matta, a former Taliban stronghold. But the general refused to estimate how long the operation would take, and the sound of explosions and machine gun fire in the near distance suggested more tough fighting lay ahead

To the west lay Piochar, a remote valley bordered by snow-peaked mountains that houses the Taliban headquarters and where Pakistan's top commando force, the Special Services Group, has been engaged in intense fighting for the past week. On the other side was Malam Jabba, Pakistan's only commercial ski resort, which was wrecked by militants last year and remains under their control. And due south, about five miles down the meandering Swat valley, lies Mingora, the commercial capital of the valley. There, civilians are hunkered inside their homes, surviving on dwindling supplies of food and fuel. Despite intense air attacks, the Taliban remain in control, with fighters holed up in schools and government offices, apparently preparing for a bloody ground offensive.

Read more: http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2009/may/22/pakistan-army-swat-valley-taliban

[Redstone]

1. Too bad about the civilians (as always), but it's about damn time that Pakistan

decided that it would control its whole country, not just selected parts.

Redstone

[ohio2007]

2. Pakistani army "claims" .... they are earning their paycheck this month? whack a mole...nt