Pak: 700 militants killed, offensive to continue

Islamabad, May 11: Pakistan's Interior Minister Rehman Malik has revealed that 700 militants have been killed in the Swat Valley in the last four days of military offensive that has been intenfied against the militants. The minister has said that the operations will continue till the last militant is killed.

Dismissing the fears of the militant infiltration into the relief camps, he also siad that the government was providing suficient funds to aid the displaced people.

"This fear is baseless that they are melting down among the displaced people because we are screening the displaced people. We are registering them with documents, checking each and every individual," The Dawn quoted Malik, as saying.

Pakistani fighter jets have been introduced into the offensive to step up the operations, The military is now restricting the access to the battlefields and many local journalists have also left. The government has not given figures for civilian casualties, but accounts from refugees suggest they are significant.

In one such account, Jawad Khan, a university student who lives in the Kabal area of Swat, said jets bombed the nearby Dhada Hara village Monday, May 11 morning. A police official has confirmed that there were jets bombing the Matta area.

ANI