Pakistan Army Claims 60 Militants Killed

Troops Backed By Helicopter Gunships, Artillery Pound Militant Positions In NW Region

(AP)  Troops backed by helicopter gunships and artillery pounded militant positions in northwest Pakistan, killing 60 fighters and wounding many others, the military said Saturday.

The assault happened Friday evening in the Swat valley shortly before a senior U.S. official arrived in Pakistan for talks with leaders of a country vital to Western security concerns.

Assistant Secretary of State Richard Boucher held talks in Islamabad on Saturday morning with Pakistan's Interior Ministry chief Rehman Malik and was expected to meet other leaders later in the day. He made no public comment.

U.S. officials, concerned about rising militancy in both nuclear-armed Pakistan and neighboring Afghanistan, have praised Pakistani efforts to clear Taliban and al Qaeda strongholds near its northwestern frontier.

But militants are mounting stiff resistance including a string of suicide attacks that could fan widespread Pakistani concern that they are paying too high a price for their front-line role in the U.S.-led war on terror.

An army statement said Friday's offensive killed at least 60 militants and wounded many more near the town of Matta.

It was not immediately possible to independently confirm the casualties. Reporters cannot visit the area because of poor security and government restrictions. No Taliban spokesman was available for comment.

The army didn't mention any losses among government forces.

Swat was once a popular tourist destination, but the region has become a battleground since last year when Pakistan sent troops to confront Mullah Fazlullah, a hardline cleric who launched a violent campaign to enforce Taliban-style Islamic law.

The army said Matta was the same area where it recovered alive one of two Chinese telecommunications engineers who had been held hostage by Taliban militants. It said militants still held the second Chinese man but efforts were under way to rescue him.

The pair disappeared in the nearby Dir region on Aug. 29 while servicing equipment installed in the area.

[stopsocialis]

The liberals are observing a moment of silence now for their fallen muslim militant jihadist comerades in Pakistan.

[lastdance128]

The Racist CBS News - SPAM - Chat Room is OPEN ! !

[petro49l]

The Pakistani Army clears the land of Peasants for exotic poppy farms. Al Qada freely deals tar heroin, methamphetamine, PCP, and potent hashish. They have unlimited use of the Internet for financial interests. Bin Laden exports narcotics and money for terror activities. The Coalition will not penetrate Waziristan unless they engage the Pakistani Army in battle. Islamabad does not fear American bomber planes. They easily could retaliate with a thermo-nuclear missile.

[stopsocialis]

7 years after Jihadists killed 3000 Americans, and after 4000 US lives taken in two wars fighting Jihadists.Yet the media, and the US, still is unable to NAME our enemy. We call them militants. Insurgents. Fighters.Armed men. Armed elements. Anything but what they really are: Jihadists. If we can''''t even NAME the enemy, how are we to defeat them?
Posted by michaelt302 at 10:49 AM : Oct 18, 2008

God will defeat all of them when it''s all said and done. Eventually they will go on an all out assault on Israel (see Ezekiel 38-39, and also read Isaiah, Jeremiah, and other books in the OT), and God will intervene and defeat their evil armies led by the anti-Christ.

What we''re seeing now in the world is the build up to this, including Russia''s dealings with Iran. Russia, called "Rosh" in Ezekiel 38-39, is starting to team up with Iran and other Muslim countries. This is all going to happen before they attack Israel in the war of Gog and Magog.

Israel will be protected however from it''s enemies. The United States had better stay allies with God''s chosen land, Israel.

[guadalcanal3]

StopSocialis...Aw c''mon...Get real...God and the Bible have nothing to do with it...This is totally a man-made problem...always has been.