Pakistan vows decisive push

Islamabad: Pakistan's army chief General Ashfaq Parvez Kayani yesterday vowed a "decisive" push against militants even as thousands of terrified Pakistanis dodged Taliban roadblocks to flee fighting between the army and insurgents in northwestern Swat valley.

According to the UN, tens of thousands have fled their homes in recent days from the Swat Valley where a militant-government peace pact collapsed this week. The exodus adds to more than 500,000 already displaced by fighting in Pakistan's volatile border region with Afghanistan.

The violence flared just as Pakistan's embattled president was appealing in Washington for more help to reverse the extension of Taliban-held territory to within 100 kilometres of Islamabad. The US has welcomed Pakistan's fresh military action.

General Kayani told a Corps Commanders conference in Rawalpindi near here that the army "is fully aware of the gravity of the internal threat," according to the military's public relations wing.

Coinciding with the conference, it was announced that Prime Minister Yusuf Raza Gilani would address the nation on radio and television at night. The exact time for the address was not immeidately given while speculation was rife Gilani would announce scrapping of the Swat peace deal and full military action to quell the insurgency.

General Kayani, in his address, said the army "will employ requisite resources to ensure a decisive ascendancy over the militants."

He said concurrently, the army was also fully prepared to meet the conventional threat.

The Chief of Army Staff said that the army had developed "full scale facilities to focus on Low Intensity Conflict related operations."

General Kayani reiterated that "with resolute conviction and faith, the army with the help of the people of Pakistan will successfully confront current and future challenges."

"Pakistan is a sovereign state and the people of Pakistan under a democratic dispensation, supported by the army, are capable of handling the present crisis in their own national interest."

In Swat, local Taliban militants battled troops in the valley's main town of Mingora from several occupied government buildings, reports said. Army helicopters and artillery were pounding positions of militants in the embattled districts, and reports spoke of dozens of casualties among insurgents.

The prime minister met parliamentarians from the affected region in Islamabad. He told them strong measures would be taken to restore peace and order as militants had continued to violate the peace agreement, according to an official statement.

Meanwhile, displaced families continued to flee from the troubled Malakand division comprising Swat, Buner, Dir and four other districts.

Camps have been set up in the province to shelter and feed the displaced whose number, according to provincial officials, was likely to increase to a million if the situation in Malakand further deteriorated.