Fighting intensifies in Pakistan's northwest

[June 11, 2009]  ISLAMABAD (AP) -- Pakistani forces battled militants on multiple fronts in the country's restive northwest Thursday, including the primary base for the country's Taliban chief, officials said. More than 60 militants were reportedly killed.

In South Waziristan in the country's tribal belt, about 400 militants attacked two military forts, triggering battles that killed 22 militants and three troops, the military said in a statement. Intelligence officials told The Associated Press on condition of anonymity that the militants attacked with rockets and guns.

The clashes in South Waziristan, a rugged, remote region along the Afghan border where Pakistani Taliban chief Baitullah Mehsud is based, came amid rumblings that the Pakistani military will launch a new offensive there on the heels of its operation in the Swat Valley.

Also Thursday, army helicopter gunships targeted militant positions in the northwest Bannu, Hangu and Upper Dir regions, killing two local Taliban commanders and some of their associates, three intelligence officials said. All of the intelligence officials spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to give information to reporters.

The army said government forces secured two villages in the Upper Dir region, where a citizens' militia has been fighting the Taliban for almost a week in several towns.

Some 34 militants were killed in fighting in the region, and one civilian was killed and another injured when militants fired rockets at Bannu city, the regional center, the military said.

Clashes also continued in several areas of the Swat Valley, where the military launched an offensive in late April to clear out the Taliban.

Verifying reports from the various fronts is nearly impossible because of the danger in the area and restrictions on journalists.

The army says it has killed more than 1,300 militants in the Swat operation and now controls most of the valley, fueling speculation of a new offensive in South Waziristan, which would please U.S. officials who want to eliminate cross-border threats to troops in Afghanistan.

Past offensives against Islamist militants -- including in South Waziristan -- have often faltered, with the government choosing to strike peace agreements with the extremists. It also tried a peace deal with militants in Swat, only to see the Taliban there gain more strength and control.

A surge in deadly attacks across Pakistan is being blamed on militants who have vowed a campaign of bombings in retaliation for the Swat campaign, and led government officials to try to rally public opinion in favor of taking on the militants.

On Tuesday, a suicide bombing at a luxury hotel in the main northwestern city of Peshawar killed at least nine people.

Also Thursday, assailants in separate attacks hurled two hand grenades in two business areas of northwestern Dera Ismail Khan town, killing one person and wounding 29 others, said Miran Shan, a local police chief. No one claimed responsibility and officers were investigating, he said.

A bomb also exploded in the toilet of a passenger train traveling from Quetta to Karachi in the country's southwest, killing one and wounding 35 others, police official Shamar Ali Magsi said.

The Baluch Republican Army, a nationalist group fighting for greater autonomy for Baluchistan province and a greater share of its oil revenues, was responsible for the blast, spokesman Sarboz Baluch said in a phone call to The Associated Press.

In Washington, President Barack Obama's special envoy to the region, Richard Holbrooke, said Wednesday he was observing "the slow emergence of a consensus behind the government's actions."

Political analyst Hasan-Askari Rizvi said it appeared support for the Taliban was waning.

"Among ordinary Pakistanis, the state of mind is changing only to the extent that they are more afraid," Rizvi said. "Some people will start saying 'stop the operations' and others will argue that you should take firm action against them. While ordinary people might sometimes have contradictory thinking, overall I would say the balance is tilting against the Taliban."

[Associated Press; By ISHTIAQ MAHSUD]

Associated Press writers Abdul Sattar in Quetta and Munir Ahmad in Islamabad contributed to this story.

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