Swat Taliban commander killed in Pak army offensive

October 7th, 2009 ISLAMABAD - Pakistan's security forces Wednesday killed a senior militant commander in Swat valley, as troops swooped for the holed-up Taliban leaders, the military said. Nisar Ahmed, alias Ghazi Lala, was a close aide of Swat's Taliban chief Maulana Fazlullah and served as his local commander in the Matta area.

September 21st, 2009 PESHAWAR - The fearsome militant commander, Sher Mohammad Qasab, who was arrested critically injured during Swat operation, has succumbed to his injuries. Swat media centre said that the militant commander was nabbed in critically injured condition four days ago from Charbagh area.

September 20th, 2009 ISLAMABAD - Pakistani Taliban commander Sher Mohammad Qasab, who carried a Rs.10 million bounty and was arrested from the Swat Valley, has died, authorities said Sunday. Qasab was critically injured during the Swat operation and he succumbed to his injuries, Geo TV reported.

September 12th, 2009 ISLAMABAD - At least one soldier and eight militants were killed in clashes in Pakistan's northwestern region, the army said Saturday. Troops engaged the rebels near Banjot in the Swat district, resulting in "five terrorists and one soldier" killed, an army statement said.

September 11th, 2009 ISLAMABAD - Pakistan's military said Friday it has arrested a Taliban spokesman in the Swat valley, where troops have spent five months fighting Islamist insurgents. Muslim Khan was captured with four colleagues including key militant commander Mehmood Khan, Geo news channel reported, citing army spokesman Major General Athar Abbas.

August 16th, 2009 Peshawar (NWFP, Pakistan), - Pakistan army sources on Sunday said they had recovered the bullet-riddled bodies of 18 Taliban militants from some locations in the Swat Valley. "Eighteen dead bodies of militants were found in Barikot, Shamozai, Kabal and Kanju," the Dawn quoted a local military spokesman, as telling a news agency.

July 30th, 2009 WASHINGTON - Raising questions over the success of the Swat military offensive, US Special Envoy to Pakistan and Afghanistan, Richard Holbrooke has said it is unclear whether the Taliban has really been hit hard in the operation. Talking to media persons after returning from his visit to Pakistan and Afghanistan here, Holbrooke said Washington is yet to ascertain whether scores of Taliban insurgents are actually being killed, as claimed by the Pakistan Army, or have they just scattered away only to recoil later.

July 27th, 2009 ISLAMABAD - At least 31 militants were killed and 28 others, including a Taliban commander, were arrested in separate operations in northwestern Pakistan, according to a media report Monday. According to the Pakistan Army's Inter Service Public Relations (ISPR), 11 militants were killed and 28 others, including the wanted commander identified as Kabir, were arrested during a search operation in Swat Valley in North West Frontier Province (NWFP), Geo TV reported.

July 25th, 2009 ISLAMABAD - The Pakistan Army said Saturday that 14 Taliban fighters were killed in clashes with security forces in the country's northwestern Swat valley and its adjoining district of Buner. According to an army statement 10 militants died when the troops conducted search operations in four areas of Buner, located some 100 km northwest of Islamabad.

July 23rd, 2009 PESHAWAR - The Taliban has rejected reports about its Swat commander Mullah Fazlullah being seriously injured, and has vowed to continue its 'jihad'. Talking to a foreign news agency over telephone from an undisclosed location, self proclaimed Taliban spokesperson Muslim Khan claimed that the whole Taliban leadership was alive and united.

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 29th, 2009 ISLAMABAD - The US special envoy to Pakistan and Afghanistan, Richard Holbrooke, has said that it is too soon for Pakistan to declare victory in the Swat Valley, where the Army has purportedly put the Taliban insurgents on the back foot. Holbrooke, attending a G8 conference on stabilizing Pakistan and Afghanistan in Italy, said in an interview that it was too early for Pakistan to announce victory in Swat.

June 4th, 2009 PESHAWAR - The Pakistan Army might be claiming success in its operation in the Swat Valley, but a large number of people, who have been forced to flee the region due to the military operation, have put a question mark over the offensive, saying no key Taliban leader has been nabbed or killed so far. Internally Displaced Persons (IDPs), who have fled the valley and have taken refuge in government schools here, are skeptical about the authenticity of the military offensive, The Daily Times reports.

June 3rd, 2009 ISLAMABAD - The Pakistan Army would need to stay in the Swat Valley for at least a year after its operation against the Taliban in the region is accomplished, in order to prevent the extremists from resurfacing again, a senior Army official has said. Major General Ijaz Awan, who is commanding the military's Swat offensive, said the army would have to stay in the valley for at least another year so that peace and security could be re-established.

April 25th, 2009 ISLAMABAD - Pakistani Taliban stopped a convoy of security forces from entering their stronghold in Swat Valley on Saturday. A News Network International (NNI) news agency report said seven army trucks were stopped by armed Taliban at Qamabr, a small town of Mingora, the main city in the Swat Valley of North West Frontier Province.