Global General

Special

Newsmaker

Asia Pacific

America

Middle East

Europe

Africa

Pakistan bombards suspected Taliban hideouts

(Agencies)
Updated: 2008-06-28 19:43

The Pakistani offensive comes as the Pentagon reports that security is "fragile" in many parts of Afghanistan. "The Taliban regrouped after its fall from power and have coalesced into a resilient insurgency," states the report, which was released Friday.

A paramilitary soldier guards inside a bunker near Bara, a town in the Khyber tribal region near the Afghan border June 28, 2008. [Agencies]

Though coalition forces have had some success fighting the Taliban, terrorist attacks and bombings are likely to continue and even escalate this year, the report concludes.

February elections brought a new civilian government to power, eclipsing former army strongman and staunch US ally President Pervez Musharraf. In a shift in policy, the new administration has supported peace efforts with Taliban militants to try to curb an explosion in violence in the northwest over the past year.

But Pakistan's Western allies are increasingly concerned that easing up military pressure on the militants has given them more space to operate -- letting them strengthen their position in Pakistan's border regions and giving them more freedom to attack US and NATO forces in Afghanistan.

Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani was in Peshawar on Saturday on a trip he said was unrelated to any impending operation.

In a brazen show of force Friday, a group of militants in the Bajur region executed two men accused of spying for US forces in front of 5,000 residents.

The body of a third accused spy was discovered riddled with bullets at the side of a road in Bajur, said Fazal Rabbi, a security official in the area. A note attached to his body said anyone else involved in spying would meet the same fate, he said.

At meetings in Peshawar on Friday, federal and provincial representatives hammered out the details of the Khyber operation. They also discussed the situation in the restive Swat area, where the provincial government has signed a peace deal with a radical pro-Taliban cleric, provincial officials said.

Afrasiab Khattak, chief negotiator for the provincial government, said that the province is considering a second military operation in Swat, where militants forced out by an army offensive last year are now regaining a foothold.

   Previous page 1 2 Next Page  

   Previous page 1 2 Next Page