Pakistan troops battle for control of key city in Swat Valley

Source: Los Angeles Times

Reporting from Islamabad, Pakistan -- The battle for the critical Swat Valley city of Mingora began today as Pakistani troops waged fierce street combat with Taliban militants and began the most difficult test yet in the monthlong offensive to regain much of northwest Pakistan from insurgents.

Pakistani security forces so far have been able to root out Taliban fighters from regions surrounding the Swat Valley, as well as mountain ridges and towns within the region, where the militants recently won the right to impose Sharia, or Islamic rule.

In Islamabad, the Pakistani capital, military spokesman Maj. Gen. Athar Abbas said 1,095 militants had been killed during the offensive and 29 captured. The death toll could not be independently verified.

Mingora, however, poses a severe challenge for Pakistani troops, who face Taliban fighters deeply embedded in an urban environment and reliant on mines, fortifications and hidden weapons caches to fend off the offensive. The fight will also be complicated by the presence of as many as 20,000 civilians who remained behind after the rest of the city's population of 375,000 fled.


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