Twirp: Terrorist Wahabi Islamic Rep Pakistan 4

[Naresh]

<b>Pakistan gains in Swat as trouble flares elsewhere</b>

<!--QuoteBegin-->QUOTE<!--QuoteEBegin-->DERA ISMAIL KHAN, Pakistan – <b>Taliban fighters clashed with Pakistani troops in a northwest tribal region Sunday, intelligence officials said, an ominous round of battles that killed dozens just as the military savored its victory over insurgents in the Swat Valley's main city.</b>

The fighting in South Waziristan, the main base for Pakistani Taliban chief Baitullah Mehsud, could raise the odds that the army will extend the Swat offensive to the semiautonomous tribal areas near Afghanistan where al-Qaida and the Taliban have long proliferated.

The militant attacks could also be attempts to distract the military's focus from Swat.<!--QuoteEnd--><!--QuoteEEnd-->

<!--QuoteBegin-->QUOTE<!--QuoteEBegin-->Two intelligence officials told The Associated Press that insurgents attacked an army convoy Saturday night in Tiarza village in South Waziristan, sparking battles in various parts of the region. They estimated that 50 militants and two soldiers were killed.

Early Sunday, militants fired more than a dozen missiles at an army camp in South Waziristan's Jandola area. The military retaliated using artillery, and some troops moved into a Taliban-held village to force out the armed Islamist extremists<!--QuoteEnd--><!--QuoteEEnd-->


<!--QuoteBegin-->QUOTE<!--QuoteEBegin-->In Swat's main urban center, Mingora, Taliban fighters had dug themselves into bunkers built into hotels and government buildings, and initially offered stiff resistance, army spokesman Maj. Gen. Athar Abbas said.

<b>An unknown number of militants were able to escape Mingora town despite a military cordon around it, he said, raising the prospect that they could take the fight elsewhere</b><!--QuoteEnd--><!--QuoteEEnd-->

<!--QuoteBegin-->QUOTE<!--QuoteEBegin-->The Taliban warned they would attack Pakistani cities in retaliation for the offensive in Swat and neighboring districts, which the army launched after militants tried to expand their presence following a peace agreement.

They claimed responsibility for Wednesday's gun and suicide bomb attack in the eastern city of Lahore that killed at least 30 people. A day later, three suicide bombings killed at least 14 people in two cities in the northwest.<!--QuoteEnd--><!--QuoteEEnd-->

Cheers <!--emo&:beer--><img src='style_emoticons/<#EMO_DIR#>/cheers.gif' border='0' style='vertical-align:middle' alt='cheers.gif' /><!--endemo-->