Pak Army claims that it has killed 16 more militants in Swat

Islamabad, Sep.14 (ANI): Security forces killed 16 more militants, at least two of them senior Taliban members, while one soldier was killed in clashes during searches in Swat on Monday, the military said in a daily update.

Over 1,700 militants have been killed since Pakistani security forces launched the military operation against Taliban militants in the month of April.

Interior Minister Rehman Malik said on Sunday, the top Taliban leader in the Swat valley, about 120 km northwest of Islamabad, was surrounded, adding the back of the Taliban insurgency had been broken.

The military's chief spokesman, however, was more cautious, saying efforts were being made to capture the Swat Taliban chief, a self-styled cleric called Fazlullah, but media reports of his imminent capture were speculation.

'We'd like to capture him today,' the official said, while declining to say when he might be tracked down.

The Pakistani Taliban under the overall command of Baitullah Mehsud were held responsible for a wave of attacks across the country from 2007, including the assassination of former prime minister Benazir Bhutto in December that year. (ANI)