Troops destroy stronghold of Taliban commander Mehsud

The Pakistan Army on Saturday destroyed a stronghold of Taliban commander Baitullah Mehsud in South Waziristan as President Asif Ali Zardari underlined his determination to fight the terrorists to the end.
 
The military said it carried out air strikes in the militant stronghold of South Waziristan in retaliation for a suicide attack that killed a leading anti-Taliban scholar even as 41 rebels and a soldier were killed in fresh fighting in Swat valley and nearby areas.
 
"We are fighting a war for our sovereignty," Zardari said, responding to a spate of deadly terrorist attacks that have killed dozens across Pakistan. In a televised address, the President called on the people to unite behind the anti-Taliban cause.
 
"We will continue this war until the end, and we will win it at any cost", he stressed.
 The number of casualties in the air strikes on Saturday could not  be ascertained, the military said in a statement.

TV news channels reported the security forces had destroyed the militant hideouts in South Waziristan, a stronghold of Taliban commander Mehsud. The military said 35 militants were killed during an operation in Bannu to secure Zindi Akbar Khan, FC Fort
Janikhel and the area up to Marwat canal.

Two terrorist compounds at Makeen in South Waziristan Agency were targeted by jets of the Pakistan Air Force in response to Friday’s suicide attack on Jamia Naeemia
compound in Lahore that killed anti-Taliban scholar Sarfraz Naeemi and another suicide bombing on a mosque in Nowshera cantonment.
 
The Taliban claimed responsibility for a series of suicide attacks in Pakistan, including the bombing of Pearl Continental hotel in Peshawar. "We claimed responsibility for these attacks," said a telephone caller who introduced himself as Saeed Hafiz, a
deputy of Hakeemullah Mehsud based in Orakzai tribal region.
 
The military said the Janikhel area had become a safe haven for terrorists and criminals and was being used as a base for conducting militant activities in the North West
Frontier Province and other provinces.

Up to 800 militants from the tribal areas had reportedly gathered at Janikhel to carry out attacks in other parts of Pakistan. In Swat, six militants were killed when troops
repulsed a raid by the Taliban on Kabal Camp. One soldier was killed and four others were injured when the militants attacked security forces with heavy weapons.
 
Three soldiers were injured in an exchange of fire that erupted when security forces were securing the areas of Nawagai, Amluk Dara, Balasur, Kharaiai and Karakar Kandao. The troops also successfully established a link up at Wanai Bridge, the military said.

A cache of arms and night vision devices was recovered and two terrorists were apprehended during a search operation in Mingora, the main city in Swat. Security forces also secured the strategic Karakar Pass that links Buner district with Swat valley.
 
The military also said that air force jets had targeted militant positions in Aurakzai Agency on Thursday after "concrete evidence based on intelligence reports" indicated that certain madrassas and other hideouts were being used for terrorist activities in NWFP and elsewhere in the country.
 
Local residents too confirmed that one madrassa was "being used as a slaughter house for killing innocent people and for keeping kidnapped persons", the military said. TV news channels also reported that seven militants were killed when Taliban positions in Mohmand Agency were pounded by fighter jets though there was no official word on
this.