Mobile UPI  |   About UPI  |   UPI en Español  |   UPI Arabic  |   UPIU  |   My Account
Search:
Go

Renewed Swat fighting kills many

|
|
 
  
Published: Nov. 2, 2007 at 1:03 AM

ISLAMABAD, Pakistan, Nov. 2 (UPI) -- Renewed fighting between Pakistani forces and pro-Taliban militants in Swat valley after the collapse of a cease-fire may have killed dozens.

The New York Times, quoting Badshah Gul Wazir home secretary for the North-West Frontier Province, reported Friday that in the latest round of fighting, which began the previous day, government forces backed by helicopters attacked about 500 militants, killing about 60 of them.

But the militants claimed they were holding 44 captured Frontier Corps soldiers as hostages.

The Times report said the rising violence in the Swat region shows the fight against pro-Taliban and pro-al-Qaida Islamic militants has spread beyond Pakistan’s restive tribal areas into more settled areas.

The report said the growing insurgency within the country also seems to be turning its attention more against the military government of President Pervez Musharraf for its alliance with U.S. President George Bush’s administration than the NATO forces in neighboring Afghanistan.

A local Swat lawyer told the Times the militants now control about 10 percent of the northwest province, adding, “But psychologically they have terrorized the entire area. No one feels secure.”

Topics: Pervez Musharraf
© 2007 United Press International, Inc. All Rights Reserved. Any reproduction, republication, redistribution and/or modification of any UPI content is expressly prohibited without UPI's prior written consent.

Order reprints
  
Join the conversation
Most Popular Collections
The Tibetan Moniam Festival in China Super Bowl XLVI ticker tape victory parade The making of the Oscars
The Chicago Auto Show The Most Desirable Women of 2012 Tu Bishvat Migron settlement
Additional Top News Stories
1 of 30
Valentine's Day Ramallah, West Bank
View Caption
fark
Remembering the first USAAF casualty in WW2: a nude-sunbathing, polo-playing risk-taker who once...
The government didn't regulate banks, and the economy fell. If the government decides to regulate...
If you are interacting with a police officer, it is best not to speak with your mouth full...of...
Remember how it took cops two days to show up and file a report after somebody broke into your house...
Electric cars prolong a destructive, car-centric lifestyle. And help you pick up socially conscious...
Man celebrates Valentine's Day in Bangkok by lobbing a bomb at a taxi that won't stop for him