Pakistan army strikes hideout of pro-Taliban militant leader

IHT: Pakistan army strikes hideout of pro-Taliban militant leader

PESHAWAR, Pakistan: Pakistan's military has targeted suspected hide-outs of the leader of pro-Taliban militant forces in the Swat Valley in the country's volatile northwest, but could not confirm whether the radical cleric was killed, the army spokesman said Wednesday.

Maj. Gen. Waheed Arshad said security forces targeted two locations on Tuesday night in Swat on information that Maulana Fazlullah was hiding there. "I am not in a position to confirm whether he died" in the attacks, Arshad told The Associated Press.

A senior military official in the area, who spoke on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to speak to media, said that the army had used artillery in the strikes. No more details were immediately available.

Militants loyal to Fazlullah grabbed control of tracts of the Swat Valley last year, prompting the army to launch a major operation in late November to reinstate the government's control.

President Pervez Musharraf last week identified Fazlullah as one of two militant leaders behind a spree of suicide attacks in Pakistan.

• MUSHARRAF IS A GOOD ALLY.
• HE IS FIGHTING OUR COMMON ENEMY AT GREATER RISK TO HIS NATION AND HIS OWN LIFE THAN ANY OTHER MUSLIM LEADER (EXCEPT FOR OUR ALLIES IN AFGHANISTAN AND IRAQ).
• WE MUSTN'T ABANDON HIM.
• WE MUSTN'T LET THE DEMS ELECT OUR NEXT PRESIDENT BECAUSE THEY WILL ABANDON HIM - AND HAVE SAID AS MUCH.
• I EXPECT PAKISTAN TO HELP US RUB OUT AL QAEDA IN THE TRIBAL REGIONS - AND KILL BINLADEN AND ZAWAHIRI - IN THE COMING MONTHS.

STAY TUNED.