MINGORA, Pakistan, (Reuters) – Pakistan’s government ordered the army to eliminate militants yesterday, setting the stage for a major offensive against Taliban fighters battling security forces in a northwestern valley.
The government’s handling of the Swat valley has become a test of its resolve to fight a growing Taliban insurgency that has alarmed the United States.
President Asif Ali Zardari, in Washington for talks, assured U.S. President Barack Obama on Wednesday of Islamabad’s commitment to defeating al Qaeda and its allies.
Security forces used jets and helicopters to pound Taliban positions in Swat, 130 km (80 miles) from Islamabad, as thousands of civilians took advantage of a break in a curfew to flee.
With hundreds of thousand of people already displaced by fighting, aid groups said the new exodus of tens of thousands was intensifying a humanitarian crisis.
Prime Minister Yusuf Raza Gilani said in a televised address the militants were trying to hold the country hostage at gunpoint.