Sunday October 18, 2009

Pakistani forces battle Taliban in S.Waziristan

By Alamgir Bitani

PESHAWAR, Pakistan (Reuters) - Pakistani forces exchanged heavy fire with Taliban militants on Sunday, a day after launching a long-awaited offensive aimed at bringing the writ of state to lawless tribal lands on the Afghan border.

A child looks out of the front windshield of a vehicle while fleeing a military offensive against Taliban militants in Dera Ismail Khan, located in Pakistan's North West Frontier Province October 17, 2009. (REUTERS/Mustansar Baloch)

The offensive on the global Islamist hub of South Waziristan follows a string of brazen militant attacks in different parts of the country, including an assault on army headquarters, in which more than 150 people were killed.

About 28,000 soldiers are battling an estimated 10,000 hard-core Taliban, including about 1,000 tough Uzbek fighters and some Arab al Qaeda members, after surrounding militant territory and pushing in from three direction.

Soldiers captured a Taliban stronghold at Spinkai Raghzai on Saturday after the militants withdrew from their fortifications and took refuge in nearby mountains, officials said.

"It is a flat area so whenever they tried to put up resistance, the helicopter gunships fired at them so they decided to flee to the mountains," said a senior government official in the northwest.

But elsewhere, resistance was tough.

Heavy exchanges of fire broke out as soldiers tried to push into the Taliban-held town of Khaisora from Shakai early on Sunday and seven militants and one soldier were killed, intelligence officials said.

The army has launched brief offensives there before, the first in in 2004 when it suffered heavy casualties before striking a peace pact.

The militants have had years to prepare their defences in the land of arid mountains and sparse forest cut by dried-up creeks and ravines.

Heavy clashes erupted on Saturday as soldiers backed by aircraft and artillery encountered resistance, and four soldiers were killed and 12 wounded, the military said. There was no information about militant casualties.

TOUGH TEST

In a show of unity before the offensive, government and political party leaders gave the military full backing on Friday, vowing to weed out militants.

Nuclear-armed Pakistan has been under U.S. pressure to crack down on Islamist militancy as President Barack Obama considers a boost in troop numbers fighting in neighbouring Afghanistan.

Many al Qaeda and Taliban members fled to northwest Pakistan after U.S.-led troops ousted the Taliban in Kabul in 2001 and the region has become a global hub for Islamist militancy.

The offensive could be the army's toughest test since the militants turned on the state and it will be hoping Afghan Taliban factions elsewhere in South Waziristan and in North Waziristan stay out of the fight.

Up to 100,000 civilians have fled from South Waziristan in anticipation of the offensive, the army said, while the United Nations said 500 people were leaving every day.

Security forces are on alert across the country in case of retaliatory strikes.

Pakistani Taliban made advances towards Islamabad early this year, raising fears about the stability of the U.S. ally.

But significant military gains in the Swat valley, northwest of Islamabad, have reassured the United States and other allies about Pakistan's commitment to the fight.

The United States needs Pakistani help to disrupt militant attacks into Afghanistan, where U.S.-led forces are struggling against an increasingly potent insurgency.

U.S. officials in Washington said on Friday the Pentagon was ramping up delivery of military equipment long sought by the Pakistani army to fight militants.

(Additional reporting by Kamran Haider; Writing by by Robert Birsel; Editing by Alex Richardson)

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