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Dozens of insurgents die as Pakistan takes on 'Taliban' militants
More than 50 people have been killed in heavy fighting close to the Afghan border. Hundreds of people fled from North Waziristan, Pakistan, yesterday, clutching clothes and possessions in their arms, after battles between Pakistani security forces and Islamic militants in the streets of Miran Shah, the main town.
The dead in the new fighting included at least 46 militants, five Pakistani troops, and two civilians, according to Pakistani authorities and reports from the local hospital. The fighting broke out on Saturday - even as President George Bush was meeting President Pervez Musharraf in Islamabad - when militants attacked several government buildings in Miran Shah and tried to storm the army's base in the town, the authorities said. It was the heaviest fighting in the area for years.
A Pakistani military spokesman, Major-General Shaukat Sultan, said the attack appeared to be a retaliation after 45 militants were killed in a military operation in the area last Wednesday.
But the timing of the latest violence is suspicious: it fits a pattern in which every time Pakistan comes under pressure from the US to do more about militants on the border with Afghanistan, it has responded with high-profile military operations in the area.
General Musharraf came under more pressure from the US than he has for years when Mr Bush made his first visit to Pakistan on Saturday. "Part of my mission today was to determine whether or not the president is as committed as he has been in the past to bringing these terrorists to justice," Mr Bush said at a joint press conference, while General Musharraf stood awkwardly beside him. "And he is," Mr Bush added, almost as an afterthought.
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http://news.independent.co.uk/world/asia/article349538.ece
A Pakistani military spokesman, Major-General Shaukat Sultan, said the attack appeared to be a retaliation after 45 militants were killed in a military operation in the area last Wednesday.
But the timing of the latest violence is suspicious: it fits a pattern in which every time Pakistan comes under pressure from the US to do more about militants on the border with Afghanistan, it has responded with high-profile military operations in the area.
General Musharraf came under more pressure from the US than he has for years when Mr Bush made his first visit to Pakistan on Saturday. "Part of my mission today was to determine whether or not the president is as committed as he has been in the past to bringing these terrorists to justice," Mr Bush said at a joint press conference, while General Musharraf stood awkwardly beside him. "And he is," Mr Bush added, almost as an afterthought.
More
http://news.independent.co.uk/world/asia/article349538.ece
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Authorities declared a curfew in a remote northwestern town after three days of fighting.
Clashes continued Monday in the North Waziristan tribal region, and thousands of residents joined an exodus out of the main town of Miran Shah.
Sikandar Qayyum, additional secretary for security for Pakistan's tribal areas, told reporters in the northwestern city of Peshawar that based on intelligence reports and questioning of some injured and arrested militants, authorities believed more than 100 militants had been killed.
That account was confirmed by army spokesman Maj. Gen. Shaukat Sultan. He said he the dead included five security forces. "Now we find out that the casualties might have exceeded 100," he said.
Earlier Monday he said that only 53 people in all were confirmed killed. He said it was difficult to give an exact count because some compounds in Miran Shah were not yet in the control of security forces.
Qayyum said the curfew would be round-the-clock except for three hours in the afternoon to enable residents to buy provisions and would last as long as "the security situation requires."
http://abcnews.go.com/International/wireStory?id=1691546