During the last 24 hours, security forces killed as many as 190 to 210 militants in Swat and Shangla in northwestern Pakistan, according to a statement by the army Sunday.
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Internally displaced children, fleeing a military offensive in the Swat valley, sit next to their water bowls after arriving in the back of a truck to the UNHCR Jalala camp (United Nations High Commission for Refugees) in Takht Bai village, located in the North West Frontier Province's Mardan district about 150 km (85 miles) north west of Pakistan's capital Islamabad May 10, 2009. Pakistan's military ordered people out of parts of the Swat valley on Sunday, relaxing a curfew to enable civilians to flee an intensifying offensive against Taliban militants.[Xinhua] |
The military statement said that reportedly 50 to 60 militants were killed Sunday in Swat and that reportedly 140 to 150 militants were killed at the Banai Baba training camp in Shangla.
The military accused militants of indiscriminate mortar firing and planting of improvised explosive devices (IEDs) in the streets and roads in the populated areas of Swat, resulting into civilian casualties.
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Internally displaced people, fleeing a military offensive in the Swat valley, await in line for tea and bread at the UNHCR Jalala camp (United Nations High Commission for Refugees) in Takht Bai village, located in the North West Frontier Province's Mardan district about 150 km (85 miles) north west of Pakistan's capital Islamabad May 10, 2009. [Xinhua] |
"The security forces have warned the citizens to remain vigilant and careful as the militants have planted IEDs in various areas of Mingora city and district Swat to put the blame of civilian causalities onto security forces," it said.
It said that militants also destroyed two schools at Barikot and Maniar.
Curfew in Swat was relaxed from 0600 (0000GMT) to 1500 (0900GMT) Sunday, it added.
The statement said that the offensives also continued in Lower Dir and Buner districts in the North West Frontier Province (NWFP), inflicting casualties on the militants.
(Xinhua News Agency May 11, 2009)
