Pakistan

Troops launch offensive in Khyber tribal region

Article published on the 2008-06-28 Latest update 2008-06-28 15:03 TU

Paramilitary soldiers in the Khyber region
(Photo: Reuters)

Pakistani soldiers and paramilitaries, backed by tanks, Saturday launched an offensive against an Islamist group active in the Khyber tribal region. They have have killed one fighter and destroyed the house of one of the group's leaders after it took effective of the area and threatened to move onto nearby Peshawar. The fighters say they are not resisting the government forces.

The operation is the first by the new government, which started talks with Taliban rebels in the hope of ending violence in the country after being elected in February.

The rebels, led by Mangal Bagh, had vowed to establish strict Islamist rule and attacked police and local tribesmen. This week they kidnapped 16 Christians from Peshawar, the capital of the neighbouring North-West Frontier Province, later releasing them.

Bagh's fighters have also been raiding lorries on the Khyber pass, the main supply route for US-led troops in Afghanistan.

But they seem to have no connection with the Pakistani Taliban.

"The ultimate goal is to restore the writ of the government," the chief of the paramilitary Frontier Corps force, Mohammad Alam Khattak, told reporters in Peshawar.

"We have secured the heights and we have taken control of the area. A curfew was imposed this morning," he said, adding that he expects the operation to last five days to a week.

Separately, Taliban commander Baitullah Mehsud, whom the authorities accuse of being behind the murder of former Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto, suspended talks with the government.

He said that the authorities are "constantly using force against us".