World | Pakistan
Taliban trap civilians in Pakistani war zone
Taliban rebels block roads with rocks and trees, preventing terrified civilians from fleeing a Pakistani valley.
- Agencies
- Published: 12:01 May 7, 2009
- Image Credit: AP
- The Pakistan army has stepped up a ground and air assault on rebels in the Swat valley.
Mingora: Taliban militants blocked roads with rocks and trees, preventing terrified civilians from fleeing a Pakistani valley on Thursday as the army stepped up a ground and air assault.
Officials are bracing for a mass exodus from the Swat Valley, a former tourist destination where fighting has resumed after the breakdown of a controversial peace deal this week.
The military claimed to have killed more than 80 militants in the region on Wednesday. There has been no official word on civilian casualties.
More than 500,000 Pakistanis driven out by fighting in other regions of the northwest are already living in makeshift camps or with relatives.
With Taliban militants roaming the streets of Mingora, Swat's main town, on Thursday and troops launching artillery and airstrikes on militant targets from helicopter, many residents hunkered down in their homes.
The army announced it was relaxing its blanket curfew in the area, but some of those who tried to make a swift exit said militants blocked their way.
Ayaz Khan, a 39-year-old from the Kanju area of Swat, said he loaded his family into his car early Thursday but that rocks, boulders and tree trunks has been laid across the roads, forcing him to turn back.
"I am helpless, frustrated and worried for my family," he told an Associated Press reporter by telephone from his home. He appealed to authorities to clear the barriers and let people move to safety.
A health worker living in Mingora said militants had warned her to stay in her home.
"During the whole of last night, I heard firing, and again this morning," said the woman, who would only give her first name, Maryam, for fear she could be targeted for speaking with a reporter. "I don't know when some weapon will hit our home and kill us," she said.
Washington has said it wants to see a sustained operation in Swat and surrounding districts, mindful of earlier, inconclusive offensives elsewhere in the Afghan border region.
President Barack Obama and Pakistani President Asif Ali Zardari met Wednesday in Washington to explore ways to boost the country's anti-terror fight.
US Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton said the military offensive against the Taliban was a positive sign.
"I'm actually quite impressed by the actions the Pakistani government is now taking," she said. "I think that action was called for, and action has been forthcoming."
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