Pakistan suspends operations against militants

Halts fighting for Ramadan

A man walked over the rubble of a house hit in fighting yesterday between militants and Pakistani forces in the Swat Valley. (Chand Khan/ AFP/ Getty Images)

ISLAMABAD, Pakistan - Pakistan yesterday announced a suspension of military operations against Islamist militants for the Muslim holy month of Ramadan, after a 24-hour assault in which it said nearly 40 militants were killed.

Violence has intensified in Pakistan in recent weeks, with the military battling militants in three parts of the northwest. The militants have responded with bomb attacks on the security forces, including a suicide attack that left 67 dead near the capital.

Deteriorating security has coincided with a faltering economy and political upheaval, including the resignation of Pervez Musharraf as president earlier this month, followed within days by a split in the new ruling coalition.

The government's top Interior Ministry official, Rehman Malik, said security forces were suspending operations for Ramadan, which ends at the beginning of October, but said they would retaliate if attacked.

"If militants take any action, the security forces will respond with full force," Malik told reporters in the eastern city of Lahore.

Pakistani Taliban spokesmen were not immediately available for comment.

The United States and other allies have been concerned that the government led by the party of Benazir Bhutto, the assassinated former prime minister, might be less committed to the unpopular war against militancy after the resignation of Musharraf, a firm US ally.

Washington has said that Al Qaeda and Taliban militants are based in sanctuaries in northwest Pakistan's ethnic Pashtun tribal areas on the Afghan border, where they orchestrate attacks in Afghanistan and Pakistan and plot violence in the West.

The offensives by the military have eased the worry somewhat. Admiral Mike Mullen, chairman of the US Joint Chiefs of Staff, said last week after talks with Pakistan's army chief that he was encouraged by the Pakistani efforts.

Some of the most intense fighting in recent weeks has been in the Swat Valley, about 100 miles northwest of Islamabad.

The military used jet fighters and helicopter gunships to attack militant positions in the Matta area Friday, with the assault continuing into yesterday.

The mountain valley was one of Pakistan's main tourist destinations until last year, when Pakistani Taliban infiltrated from sanctuaries in lawless areas on the Afghan border to support a radical cleric campaigning for hard-line rule.

The military is also battling militants in the Bajaur area on the Afghan border, across mountains to the west of Swat, and in the South Waziristan region.

In a separate strike yesterday, a missile hit a house in Wana, the main town in South Waziristan, killing five people, said a resident who saw the bodies taken out of the rubble.

The house was owned by a man believed to have militant links, residents said. A security official said two of the dead were foreigners.

It was not immediately clear who fired the missile, but US-operated pilotless drones have attacked in Pakistani border regions several times this year, killing dozens of militants.