Islamabad, May 6
Widening its crackdown on Taliban, the Pakistan army today attacked militants with helicopter gunships and tanks, as troops rolled in to wrest control of the restive Swat valley killing 62 extremists in one of the most bloodiest fightings.

Thirtyfive Taliban fighters were killed as troops, under heavy tank fire cover, engaged the militants in street fighting in Mingora and took control of Emerald Mines, which Taliban were exploiting to enrich their coffers, a military spokesman said.

Heavy fighting also raged in the nearby Buner district where troops blasted Taliban fortifications in Pir Baba and Sultanwas areas, killing 27 militants.

Shells and rockets landed on Mingora, the main town in the valley, where Taliban seized all major government buildings, including that of the local mayor and DIG of Police, and mined all thoroughfares in anticipation of a land assault.

Troops took control of the Emerald Mines, which witnessed some of the heaviest fighting, military spokesman Maj Gen Athar Abbas told reporters.

"Thirtyfive militants were killed near the Emerald Mines," he said.

The offensive sounded the death knell for the controversial peace deal and triggered a massive exodus from Mingora and other towns with thousands of people fleeing the area after authorities asked them to do so.

Around 50,000 people were reported to have left various towns of the Swat valley with the provincial authorities saying that the figure could go as high as 500,000.

While a curfew was in force in major towns of Swat keeping people off the streets, troops attacked militants in and around Mingora. Pakistan military also bombarded insurgent positions in Buner, killing 27 militants and destroying eight of their vehicles.

The bombardment was aimed at two Taliban strongholds of Pir Baba and Sultanwas areas, which are just outside Daggar. The army has so far failed to dislodge the Taliban from these areas despite days of heavy fighting.

The military has accused the Taliban of violating the accord by abducting and killing civilians and security personnel. — PTI

President Barack Obama’s administration is seeking Saudi Arabia’s help to unite Pakistan's political leaders against what it sees as a mortal threat posed by the Taliban. Before President Asif Ali Zardari's meetings at the White House, a US official clarified that Washington is not ditching Zardari in favour of opposition leader Nawaz Sharif.

Travelling to Saudi Arabia this week, Defence Secretary Robert M. Gates acknowledged that the Saudis have “considerable influence in Pakistan.” Saudi Arabia was one of only three governments to establish diplomatic ties with the hard-line Taliban administration in Kabul before it was toppled in October, 2001. The Saudis severed diplomatic ties with the Taliban soon after the September 11, 2001, attacks on the US. Pakistan and the United Arab Emirates were the other two governments that had formally recognised the Taliban leadership.

Gates was hopeful that the Saudis can help Pakistan rally against the Taliban. “I think whatever they can do to help bring the Pakistanis together in a broader sense to deal with the challenge to the government in Islamabad, obviously would be welcome,” he said, citing Saudi Arabia's “long-standing and close relationship with Pakistan.”

Incidentally, Sharif spent several years in exile in Saudi Arabia following a deal after his ouster in a coup by Gen. Pervez Mushharaf in 1999. In 2000, after Sharif was convicted by a Pakistani court of hijacking and sedition, and sentenced to life in prison, Crown Prince Abdullah - now the king of Saudi Arabia - intervened in the case.

Miffed over a recent truce agreement with the Taliban that allowed the militants to establish Sharia rule in the Swat Valley, US officials and lawmakers are worried that Zardari's government is too weak to tackle the Taliban. At a congressional hearing on Tuesday, New York Democratic Congressman Gary Ackerman noted that neither Zardari nor Sharif “appear to recognise the scope and seriousness of the crisis that their country is in or of the necessity of setting their personal or party political fortunes aside in order to meet the danger.”

Obama's special envoy for Pakistan and Afghanistan, Richard C. Holbrooke, speaking before the House panel denied the Obama administration is ditching Zardari in favour of Sharif. He said, “We have not distanced ourself from President Zardari. If we had, why would President Obama have invited him to Washington today? Why would we be here today talking about additional money for his government?”

Sharif’s ties with Islamists are viewed by some in Washington as helpful in any future strategy to deal with the militants and the Obama administration has made a concerted effort to reach out to him even as it hosts Zardari at the White House this week. State Department spokesman Robert Wood at a briefing on Monday played down contacts with Sharif. “We talk to opposition leaders in many countries,” he said. “We talk to them because we think it’s important that there be political unity in the country to deal with this type of a threat that Pakistan faces... we’ll continue to do that.”