Pakistan pounds Taliban, wants planes
Friday, 15 May 2009
PESHAWAR, May 14 (AFP): Pakistan artillery attacked Taliban hideouts in the northwest Thursday as President Asif Ali Zardari asked Washington for "ownership" of US drones killing militants on its soil.
More than 670,000 civilians have registered with the United Nations after fleeing the offensive in the northwest, where the Taliban have terrorised the population in a campaign to enforce sharia law and expand their control.
Artillery batteries shelled suspected hideouts in Swat and the neighbouring district of Lower Dir, but there were no immediate reports of new casualties on the 19th consecutive day of operations in the region.
"Many of their hideouts were destroyed in mountains," said one security official on condition of anonymity as he was not authorised to talk to the media.
Another military official said troops were 16 kilometres away from Swat's main town Mingora, where gun-toting Taliban patrol the streets and scared residents wait behind locked doors, fearing a military assault.
More than 670,000 civilians have registered with the United Nations after fleeing the offensive in the northwest, where the Taliban have terrorised the population in a campaign to enforce sharia law and expand their control.
Artillery batteries shelled suspected hideouts in Swat and the neighbouring district of Lower Dir, but there were no immediate reports of new casualties on the 19th consecutive day of operations in the region.
"Many of their hideouts were destroyed in mountains," said one security official on condition of anonymity as he was not authorised to talk to the media.
Another military official said troops were 16 kilometres away from Swat's main town Mingora, where gun-toting Taliban patrol the streets and scared residents wait behind locked doors, fearing a military assault.