MALAKAND: Between 180 and 200 insurgents were killed in the last 24 hours in a fierce military offensive to push Taliban fighters out of Pakistan's northwestern Swat valley, the military said on Sunday.
'During the last 24 hours, as many as 180-200 miscreants have been killed in various areas of Swat and Shangla by security forces,' the military said in a statement.
The military has been pounding the Swat valley and several nearby districts since late last month after Taliban fighters advanced to within 100 kilometres of Islamabad despite a February peace deal.
Meanwhile, on Sunday, the army ordered people out of parts of the Swat valley, temporarily relaxing a curfew to enable civilians to flee an intensifying offensive against Taliban militants.
Hundreds of thousands of people have left Swat in the past week and in all about 500,000 are expected to get out. They join 555,000 people displaced earlier from Swat and other areas because of fighting since August.
?We have ordered the civilian population in four districts to vacate the areas,? said Nasir Khan, a military spokesman in the region. ?They have seven hours to leave because we have to strike militant hideouts there,? he said.
The Swat administration announced that the curfew had been relaxed from 06:00 a.m. to 01:00 p.m. on Sunday and asked the residents of Qamber and Amankot to leave the areas as soon as possible.
?We expect more than 100,000 people will quit their homes at different places in Swat today,? local administration chief Khushhal Khan told AFP, adding that while vehicles would be allowed to leave the valley, no one would be allowed in.
The UN refugee agency has warned up to one million people have already been displaced in northwest Pakistan, with tens of thousands streaming out of Buner, Lower Dir and Swat, registering in camps or sheltering with families.
The government has said it was bracing to cope with half a million people displaced by the fighting.
Earlier, on Saturday, at least 44 militants were killed when jet fighters, helicopter gunships and artillery shelled different areas in Swat, Dir and Malakand.
Local people and officials said that 25 militants had been killed and several others wounded in the bombing and shelling in Qambar, Amankot, Green Chowk, Landi Kas, Shahiabad, Namal, Chamkali, Wenai and Peuchar areas of Swat.
The longstanding curfew in the entire Malakand division had multiplied the misery of the displaced and a large number of people were trapped in their homes in Mingora and other areas of swat.
They had appealed to the government to relax the curfew to enable them to leave their homes for safety. They also alleged that Taliban were stopping them from vacating their houses.
Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani said Saturday that the army would minimise civilian casualties while the government would look after those displaced by the conflict. These views echoed President Asif Ali Zardari?s special message from New York, which stated that the government must take special care to protect the refugees of the operation, in particular addressing the needs of women and children. APP quoted the President as saying that a billion rupee fund would be announced for the rehabilitation of the IDPs.
Meanwhile, ten people, militants and non-combatants among them, were killed and five others injured when helicopter gunships shelled Maizara and Thana areas of Malakand.
A mortar shell hit the house of one Qadir Gul in Thana village, killing his daughter-in-law and grand son. Another shell hit a house in the same area, killing Qayyum, son of Habibur Rehman, and Hazrat Nawab, son of Abdul Wahab.
Hundreds of people left their homes in Thana and Batkhela and moved to other areas through Palai road via Buner. About 500 new families arrived at the Rangmala relief camp. A large number of people were stranded on roads because of curfew.
Thirteen militants, including a key commander, were killed and five others wounded when security forces pounded militant hideouts in Maidan, Lower Dir.
Clashes between security forces and militants were also reported in Hayaserai, Kumbar and Darro areas of Maidan. Several bunkers and hideouts of militants were destroyed in Kolal Dheri, a stronghold of the Taliban.
The security forces recaptured the bungalow of Khan of Hayaserai, a son of the late Nawab-i-Dir. It was occupied by militants a few days ago.
Officials claimed that troops had cleared Hayaserai, Kumbar and Darro villages of militants.
However, a spokesman for the Taliban told Dawn by phone from an unspecified location that they had repulsed attacks by security forces in Kumbar and Hayaserai and claimed that troops suffered heavy casualties. Civilian casualties were reported in the Maidan fighting.
?Taliban have taken shelter in vacated houses and are attacking security forces,? the spokesman said.
Lower Dir DCO Ghulam Mohammad enforced curfew for an indefinite period in the district on Saturday, causing problems for the displaced persons trapped in different areas.
About 12,000 people have moved out of Tazagaram, Shawa, Kityari, Gul Abad, Gaddar, Chakdara and Ouch areas of Adenzai tehsil.Local people said that helicopters gunships had conducted an aerial search of Osakai and Warsak areas of Adenzai, sparking panic and fear among the locals.
According to sources, over 100 armed Taliban entered the Osakai village on Saturday evening and asked the residents to vacate their homes. The militants had started taking positions in mountains of the village and a clash between them and security forces might take place any time, the sources added.
The Swat Taliban active in Adenzai areas reportedly held a public gathering at Chakdara Square on Saturday. The meeting, attended by a few people, mostly children, was addressed by a local commander, the sources said. Militants whisked way a local photographer who tried to take footage of the gathering.
In Buner, army troops were moved to cover up the deployment of the Special Service Group on hilltops between Daggar and Pir Baba. Militants offered stiff resistance to SSG personnel soon after they were dropped in the area by helicopters, the sources said.
Security forces, backed by helicopter gunships and tanks, moved to the troubled area. Air and ground forces combed the localities. Heavy artillery pounded hideouts of militants in Patora, Jaffar, Dagger, Pirabai, Ghazi Khanay, Sultanwas and Pir Baba.
Dawn Correspondents Hameedullah Khan, Haleem Asad, Gohar Ali Gohar and Abdur Rehman Abid have contributed to this report.
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