HEADLINES:
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R/£ Army battles militants in Taliban stronghold
October 22, 2009 Edition 3
PARACHINAR, Pakistan: Soldiers fought for control of the Pakistani Taliban chief's home town, Kotkai, as they pressed an offensive along the Afghan border today.
Intelligence officials said suspected US missiles had hit territory controlled by another insurgent, threatening to undermine deals that keep some militants out of the battle.
This morning a pair of gunmen on a motorbike killed two soldiers in the Pakistani capital, Islamabad, police said.
The attack appeared to be part of a wave of bloodshed that has killed more than 170 people in Pakistan over the past three weeks, pressuring the military to launch the offensive in South Waziristan six days ago.
The offensive is considered a critical test of nuclear-armed Pakistan's campaign against Islamist extremists who are also blamed for attacks on Western forces in neighbouring Afghanistan.
The military is advancing on multiple fronts in South Waziristan, a tribal region home to al-Qaeda fighters and Taliban insurgents who have focused on overthrowing the US-allied Pakistani government.
The fight for the town of Kotkai is symbolically important because Pakistani Taliban chief Hakimullah Mehsud and a top deputy, Qari Hussain, hail from there.
An army statement said yesterday that forces were engaged in "intense encounters" in the hills surrounding Kotkai and had secured an area to its east.
Two intelligence officials said troops had secured parts of the town and destroyed Mehsud's and Hussain's homes.
However, army spokesman Major General Athar Abbas denied that yesterday, saying there had been no significant fighting inside the town yet. - Sapa-AP
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