Conceding that the Taliban militants in the country could make their way to the federal capital, Pakistan has vowed to flush them out from the restive region.
Conceding that the Taliban militants in the country could make their way to the federal capital if they are not stopped in the Swat valley, Pakistan has vowed to flush them out from the restive region.
"Get out of Swat, we are after you and we will get you, as the armed forces and secret agencies are now re-energised to complete the task," Interior Ministry chief ehman Malik said while winding up a debate in the Senate or upper house of Parliament.
"If (the Taliban are) not stopped in Swat, tomorrow they would be in Hazara and then one fine morning in Islamabad," he said during the debate last night.
Malik called on the militants to lay down their arms and desist from harming Pakistan and its people in the name of Islam.
Pakistan is under pressure from the US to act against militants and terror groups operating on its soil.
Even as Malik spoke in the Senate, troops backed by gunship helicopters and artillery launched a fresh offensive against militant positions in the Swat valley.
However, members of both treasury and opposition benches accused the government of lacking seriousness in dealing with the situation in the scenic valley that was once a popular tourist destination.
The Taliban will be flushed out of Swat in a few weeks as the government's new policy for the region was delivering, Malik said.
He said the government had been following the new policy for the past five days, but did not spell out details.
"The government has decided to fight back. Taliban had been swept away from the troubled valley in a military operation in 2008," Malik said. But later peace deals made "in good faith" with "soft elements" gave the Taliban an opportunity to reorganise themselves.
Malik said "a foreign hand" was behind insurgency in various parts of Pakistan, adding that 5,000 Arabs had come to the tribal areas and that the government had found tunnels running from the Bajaur tribal region to Afghanistan.
He also said the policy of "dialogue, development and deterrence" would continue in Swat. Force will be used against those who believe in terror, he added.
Curfew had been clamped in parts of Swat and joint pickets of the army, police and Frontier Corps had been set up, he said.
He said 1,200 civilians and 189 law enforcement personnel had died in Swat while the militants had destroyed hundreds of schools.
Malik said Taliban commander Qari Hussain Ahmed ran a training camp for suicide bombers in Waziristan and Maulana Naamdaar brought suicide bombers from Waziristan to Swat.
Qari Hussain was reported killed in January 2008 when his house was destroyed in an air strike.
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