Pak Army claims killing 60 more Taliban in Malakand

September 11th, 2009 PESHAWAR - The Taliban, for the first time, has admitted that it is negotiating secret peace talks with the Pakistan Army, and has claimed that five of its leaders have been held captive by the security forces for the last eight days. The Swat Taliban said that five of its commanders, including spokesperson Muslim Khan and senior commander Mahmud Khan, who had gone to hold talks with the Army, were traceless and claimed that they have been arrested.

September 3rd, 2009 RAWALPINDI - The lessons learnt from the military's anti-Taliban operations in the country's restive northwest were reviewed by the Pakistani Army at the Corps Commanders conference that began here Thursday. Quoting military sources, Online news agency reported that during the course of the conference, the constructive and positive strategies of Pakistan Army in Operation Rah-e-Rast in the Malakand division of the North West Frontier Province (NWFP) were discussed.

August 19th, 2009 MINGORA - After a brief lull, Taliban's Swat chapter spokesman Muslim Khan has threatened the Malakand Division Commissioner to stop the action against the extremists. According to sources, Khan called Malakand Commissioner Fazal Karim Khattak and told him to discontinue the operation against militants as soon as possible.

August 16th, 2009 PESHAWAR - Even as thousands of refugees have started returning to their home in the Swat and Malakand divisions after the Pakistan Army declared the region free from Taliban control, local residents claimed the extremists are consolidating their position once again. "The Taliban are strengthening their position in some parts of Malakand.

July 23rd, 2009 RAWALPINDI - The Pakistan Army has killed at least 27 Taliban fighters in various districts of the Malakand division in the last 24 hours. According to an ISPR statement, fighter jets pounded Taliban hideouts in South Waziristan killing six close aides of the Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) chief Baitullah Mehsud.

July 7th, 2009 ISLAMABAD - Pakistan Prime Minister's advisor on Interior Affairs, Rehman Malik has said that the major Taliban leadership has been wiped out from Swat. Talking to media persons here, Malik claimed that the military offensive being carried out in the North West Frontier Province's (NWFP) Swat and Malakand Divisions have been successful with top commanders of the Taliban killed.

June 18th, 2009 ISLAMABAD - At least 34 Taliban militants were killed and seven others captured in an operation carried out by the Pakistani Army in North West Frontier Province (NWFP), the army said in a statement Thursday. The army said five soldiers were also injured in the operation in Malakand Division of the NWFP in the past 24 hours to Thursday evening.

June 16th, 2009 ISLAMABAD - The Pakistan Government's decision to launch an operation in Waziristan to catch Baitullah Mehsud could provide the Taliban the fillip to regroup in Malakand, warned former interior minister Aftab Ahmad Khan Sherpao. "Complete success in Malakand would demoralised Taliban ahead of fresh operation in Waziristan.

June 10th, 2009 LAHORE - One of the commanders of the Swat Operation, Major General Ijaz Awan, has said the Taliban started to arm themselves against the Pakistan Army after parliament decided to enforce the Nizam-e-Adl Regulation in Malakand Division. In an interview with a private TV channel, he said the Taliban had made Mingora their base, and then advanced towards Buner and other adjoining areas.

June 8th, 2009 PESHAWAR - Furious over the death of TNSM leaders, Maulana Mohammad Alam and Amir Izzat Khan, the Taliban has blamed the NWFP government and the Pakistan Army for the killings. The Taliban rejected the government's version that the leaders were killed in an ambush with the militants.

May 30th, 2009 RAWALPINDI - The Pakistan Army has claimed that it has pushed the Taliban out of Bahrain and Peochar village in the Swat Valley, killing at least 28 insurgents including a top commander Khush Mir Khan alias Abu Huzaifa in the process. Security forces have also arrested seven Taliban from different areas of the valley.

May 19th, 2009 LAHORE - The Pakistan military leadership is worried that the longer the Swat offensive against the Taliban persists, public support will erode. The Pakistan Army's heaviest battle against the Taliban is being fought in the Malakand division, The Time has pointed.

May 14th, 2009 ISLAMABAD - The Taliban has given members of parliament representing Pakistan's Malakand Division three days to resign, or else their families will be kidnapped. "All national and provincial parliament members from the Malakand Division must resign within three days, otherwise, we will arrest all their families, and we will destroy all their buildings," Taliban spokesperson Muslim Khan told CNN In a separate directive, Muslim Khan urged Pakistan's Islamist political parties to publicly show support for Taliban militants.

May 8th, 2009 RAWALPINDI - Pakistan's Chief of Army Staff (COAS), General Ashfaq Kayani has said the Army would mobilise all available resources to launch a 'decisive operation' to crush and flush out the Taliban from North West Frontier Province (NWFP). "The Pakistan Army will employ requisite resources to ensure a decisive ascendancy over the Taliban," The Daily Times quoted General Kayani, as saying at the 118th corps commanders' conference held at the General Headquarters (GHQ).

May 8th, 2009 NEW DELHI - Pakistan may have declared an all out war against the Taliban in the Swat and Malakand Division of the North West Frontier Province (NWFP), but many believe that it is almost impossible to contain the advancing militia, which they liken to a balloon that can not be stopped from popping up in different directions when subjected to pressure. With Swat and Malakand already under the Taliban's grip, fears are rife that it is almost a matter of time when Mardan, situated just 30 miles away from Swat, would cave in to the extremists.