Pakistan shells Taliban positions

PESHAWAR, Pakistan, June 28 (UPI) -- Pakistan officials said they shelled Taliban positions outside Peshawar Saturday in response to the militants' increasing forays into the city's outskirts.

The government offensive in the restive northwestern part of the country has been limited so far, with the shelling carried out by paramilitary troops rather than uniformed soldiers, but it could mark a shift in the new government's stance toward the Taliban, the Los Angeles Times reported Saturday. In its first three months, the Pakistan government has emphasized talks with Taliban leaders while pulling back troops.

Now however, with Peshawar residents reportedly nervous about a full-scale Taliban assault on the city, and with talks between Taliban commander Baitullah Mashud and government negotiators apparently stalled, the government has launched an initiative, the Times said.

"It had become pretty obvious that the state needed to enforce its writ," military analyst Nasim Zehra told the newspaper. "These are groups that have no respect for the law."