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Pakistani army ordered to avoid civilian casualties
Wed May 13, 2009 9:39am EDT
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By Robert Birsel
ISLAMABAD (Reuters) - Pakistan's army chief ordered his men on Wednesday to ensure civilian casualties are kept to a minimum, even if that meant danger for them, in an offensive against Taliban militants in the Swat valley.
The offensive, launched last week after the United States accused the government of "abdicating" to militants, has broad political and public support.
But that could change if many civilians are killed or if the hundreds of thousands displaced by the fighting suffer unduly.
"(Army chief General Ashfaq Kayani) has instructed the army to ensure minimum collateral damage, even at the expense of taking risks, by resorting to precision strikes," the army said in a statement.
The offensive was launched when President Asif Ali Zardari was in Washington assuring the United States his government was not about to collapse and was committed to fighting militancy.
Pakistani action against militants in its northwest is vital for U.S. efforts to defeat al Qaeda and stabilize Afghanistan.
About 15,000 security forces members face about 5,000 militants in the Swat region, the military says.
Government aircraft attacked militants in the Peochar valley on Wednesday, military officials said.
Helicopter-borne soldiers swooped into the Taliban stronghold, a side valley off the main Swat valley, on Tuesday and established a firm hold that night, the military said.
Eleven militants and five soldiers had been killed in various clashes in Swat over the previous 24 hours, it said. The military said on Tuesday 751 militants and 29 soldiers had been killed in the offensive.
Reporters have left Swat and there was no independent confirmation of that estimate of militant casualties. A Taliban spokesman said only seven of his men had been killed.
"Morale is high. All areas are still under our control," spokesman Muslim Khan said by telephone. Khan threatened members of parliament from Swat, saying they should resign or their families would be hunted down and their property destroyed.
BEHEADED BODIES
Afghan President Hamid Karzai, in Pakistan for an economic conference, told Prime Minister Yusuf Raza Gilani his government would launch a similar offensive, Gilani's office said, adding Karzai fully backed Pakistan's efforts.
The military says there have been no reports of civilian casualties in its actions as soldiers were targeting militants in hideouts in mountains and urban warfare had not started. Continued...
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