PAKISTANI security forces fought street battles with Taleban militants in the Swat Valley's main town yesterday, a critical phase in the effort to wrest the northwest region near Afghanistan out of insurgent hands.
Army spokesman Major General Athar Abbas warned the operation in Mingora could be "painfully slow", noting that some 10,000 to 20,000 civilians were still trapped in the town.
The fight also could prove a major test for a military more geared t
oward conventional warfare on the plains than urban battles.
The military operation in Swat and surrounding districts has strong support from Washington, which wants Pakistan to root out insurgents who use its territory to plan attacks on US troops in Afghanistan. For now, it appears to have broad public support in Pakistan as well.
Abbas said 17 suspected militants had been killed in 24 hours. He said another major town, Matta, was cleared of militants. But some 1,500 to 2,000 insurgents remained in Swat – hard-core fighters, he said.
Mingora, which normally has at least 375,000 residents, is a major commercial centre for the valley, one the military had been preparing to enter for several days.
"The terrorists are going to use (civilians] as human shields. They are going to take them hostage, so we are moving very carefully," Abbas said. "The pace of the operation will be painfully slow. So keep patient. But the operation has started and, God willing, we are going to take it to the logical conclusion."
The military says about 1,100 suspected insurgents have died so far in the month-old offensive. It has not given any tally of civilian deaths. Residents fleeing the region have reported that dozens of ordinary Pakistanis have died in the fighting.
Abbas also said no civilians were killed during the operation in Matta. Information provided by the military and civilians is nearly impossible to verify independently because of limited access to the region.
The offensive also has triggered an exodus of nearly 1.9 million refugees, more than 160,000 to relief camps. Some fear the generally broad public support for the military campaign could drain away if the refugees' plight worsens or if the army gets bogged down too long.
Pakistani prime minister Yousuf Raza Gilani yesterday played down reports that the army would expand the offensive to the lawless, semiautonomous tribal regions bordering Afghanistan, where al-Qaeda and Taleban fighters have long had strongholds.
Reports that Pakistani president Asif Ali Zardari said such a move was in the works have led some families to leave the South Waziristan tribal area, the main base of Pakistani Taleban chief Baitullah Mehsud.
"It is not like this," Gilani said in response to questions about a possible new front. "We are not foolish to do it everywhere."
It would be difficult for the army to force a fight in another territory before clearing the Taleban from Swat.
Pakistan's army has long been more structured around fighting a conventional battle against rival India on the plains of the Punjab, using tanks and artillery. It has limited experience battling guerrillas in urban settings. Many Taleban fighters can simply blend into the population or melt away to the hillsides.
The army said it had made gains toward retaking another Taleban hide-out in Swat, the Piochar area, putting the militants there on the run.
In a statement, it said local residents told the military that they were subjected to forced labour by "miscreants-terrorists."
Gordon Brown yesterday backed the military offensive in the Swat Valley as a "vital drive" against the Taleban.
The Prime Minister urged the wider international community to lend their support and step up humanitarian assistance for refugees fleeing the violence.
Brown said: "The Pakistani government is engaged in a vital drive to assert its authority over extremist militants who have rejected Pakistan's constitution, parliament and judiciary."
The PM added: "The UK is committed to the success and prosperity of Pakistan and it is right that we – and the whole international community – should support this effort."
However, he acknowledged that the fighting came at a "high price" in terms of innocent civilians "tragically displaced".
The full article contains 701 words and appears in Scotland On Sunday newspaper.
