Pakistan captures 40 miscreants

Reuters:

Pakistani forces captured 40 militants in the South Waziristan region on the Afghan border, a military spokesman said on Saturday, a day after up to 90 rebels were killed in two battles.

Fighting has intensified in recent days between government forces and al Qaeda-linked militants led by a commander the government and the CIA say was behind the assassination of opposition leader Benazir Bhutto last month.

"Last night, during the operation at Chaghmalai, we captured 40 miscreants ... the complete Chaghmalai area is cleared of militants," said military spokesman Major-General Athar Abbas.

...

Militants ambushed a convoy in the Chaghmalai area of South Waziristan on Friday and 20 to 30 of them were killed when security forces fought back, Abbas said, citing estimates reported by observation posts.

The military later found the bodies of 10 fighters, he said.

In another incident on Friday, government forces attacked a large number of men who had gathered to attack a fort at Ladha, also in South Waziristan, killing 50 to 60 of them, Abbas said.

Intense fighting continued through the night at Ladha, he said, and locals said aircraft bombed militants on Saturday.

In a separate incident, security forces said they arrested 10 militants and found 2.5 tonnes of explosives hidden in a mosque in the Swat valley in North West Frontier Province, where the army has been battling Islamists since November.

...

It looks like the Pakistan security forces are finally swinging into action in the area of the insurgency action. These reports are dramatically different from the ones when the Taliban forces first attacked. It will be much harder for the miscreants to operate in the large size units used in the attacks on the frontier fortresses now. They will either have to disburse and choose their battles carefully or face destruction by the Pakistan army.