Pakistan drops commandos into Taliban stronghold

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MARDAN, Pakistan, May 12 (AP): Army helicopters dropped Pakistani commandos behind Taliban lines in the Swat Valley Tuesday as part of a widening offensive against the militants, while a US missile killed eight people in an attack on a suspected insurgent hideout elsewhere in the northwest.
Choppers inserted troops into the remote Piochar area in the upper reaches of the valley, an army statement said. Officials identified it as the rear-base of an estimated 4,000 Taliban militants also entrenched in Swat's main towns. It is seen as possible hiding place of Swat Taliban chief Maulana Fazlullah.
A military spokesman declined to give details of the Piochar assault.
Pakistani authorities launched a full-scale assault on Swat and surrounding districts last week after the Taliban pushed out from the valley on the back of a now-defunct peace deal and extended their control to areas just 100 kilometres from the capital, Islamabad.