KOTA, Pakistan, (Reuters) – Helicopter-borne Pakistani soldiers swooped into a Taliban stronghold in a remote corner of Swat yesterday as the United Nations urged help for hundreds of thousands displaced by the fighting.
The offensive in Swat, 130 km (80 miles) northwest of Islamabad, is seen as a test of the government’s commitment to face up to a growing Taliban insurgency and comes after the United States accused it of “abdicating” to the militants.
The fighting has caused civilians to flee the valley, once a tourist destination, raising fears of a humanitarian crisis.
A senior military official overseeing help for the displaced said about 800,000 civilians had fled from the latest fighting. They were joining about 500,000 displaced by earlier fighting in the northwest, said Brigadier Aamir Raza Qureshi.
Yesterday, helicopters flew soldiers into the Peochar valley, which runs northwest off the main Swat valley, where the Taliban have a headquarters, the military said.
“Their mission is to conduct search and destroy operations,” military spokesman Major-General Athar Abbas told a briefing. “The militants are on the run.”
Residents said troops had also been seen moving on the ground towards Peochar.
The offensive was launched last week when President Asif Ali Zardari, the widower of former Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto, was in Washington assuring a nervous United States his government was not about to collapse and was committed to fighting militancy.
A February pact aimed at ending violence in Swat, which effectively handed the militants control, had raised fears of a gradual Taliban takeover of more areas in the nuclear-armed country, which is vital to U.S. efforts to defeat al Qaeda and stabilize Afghanistan.
At the United Nations yesterday, Zardari said after talks with Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon that the U.N. chief would “appeal to the world with us jointly to help Pakistan and the affectees of this war.”
“Our basic purpose today is to draw attention to … the human catastrophe that is taking place because of this war effort,” he told reporters. “We want the world to help us.”
Ban said the United Nations was ready to step up aid, but he had voiced concern to Zardari over the plight of civilians.
“I expect President Zardari to take all necessary care to protect the civilian population,” he said, adding the Pakistani leader had assured him aid would be delivered smoothly.
Military spokesman Abbas said 751 militants had been killed in the offensive while 29 soldiers had been killed and 77 wounded. Most reporters have left Swat and the estimate of militant casualties could not be independently confirmed.
Taliban spokesmen were not available for comment.
