Pakistan: 60 Suspected Militants Killed in Recent Fighting
By VOA News
23 September 2008
Pakistan's military says its soldiers have killed some 60 suspected militants in two days of fighting in the northwest part of the country.
Officials say more than 50 insurgents and one soldier were killed in the fighting outside Peshawar in the Dara Adam Khel region Monday.
In a separate incident, security officials said Pakistani soldiers killed at least 10 suspected militants Tuesday in the Bajaur area near the Afghan border.
Officials said the battle was part of the continuing military offensive against suspected al-Qaida-linked militants in the region.
Since the operation began last month, the Pakistani military says its soldiers have killed more than 700 insurgents.
Also Tuesday, witnesses say police shot and killed at least five people during protests in Mingora, the main town in Swat Valley. Police say thousands of people set fire to banks during demonstrations against civilian deaths in the military offensive against militants.
The United Nations refugee agency is appealing for $17 million in aid to help more than 200,000 people displaced by the fighting and floods.
The U.N. has already distributed relief items to affected families, but says more donations are needed.
Pakistan's government estimates nearly 90,000 people have fled the fighting in Swat and other areas of North West Frontier Province, along the Afghan border.
Some analysts say the recent bombing of Islamabad's Marriott Hotel, which killed scores of people, was the militants' response to the military's ongoing operation in the tribal regions.
Some information for this report was provided by AFP and Reuters.
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