Pakistani Troops Kill at Least 10 Taliban Fighters

Pakistani troops killed at least 10 Taliban fighters in a military operation to slow the march of extremists across North-West Frontier province yesterday amid growing western concerns about the stability of the nuclear-armed country.

Paramilitary troops and helicopter gunships attacked Taliban camps in Lower Dir, a mountainous district wedged between the Afghan border and the troubled Swat valley. The army said that "scores" of Taliban and one soldier had been killed in the assault, while interior ministry chief Rehman Malik put the militant death toll at 30.

Muhammad Iqbal, a senior official with the pro-Taliban TNSM (Movement for the Enforcement of Sharia Law) group confirmed the deaths of 10 militants, including a commander he named as Shahid.

Pakistan's beleaguered government and army are keen to reassert their authority after a barrage of criticism last week from US government officials worried that Pakistan is ceding large chunks of territory to Taliban control.

Speaking on Fox News yesterday, the secretary of state, Hillary Clinton, said she could not "even contemplate" a scenario in which Pakistan's nuclear warheads were at risk.

The Dir operation fueled speculation of a broader military drive in the coming days and could signal the collapse of a controversial peace deal.

Under the pact signed in February the Taliban were supposed to disarm in return for the imposition of sharia law in Malakand Division, a sprawling area that covers one-third of the NWFP. Instead the militants have used their sanctuary in Swat to conduct raids into neighboring districts such as Shangla, Dir and Buner, which is just 60 miles from Islamabad.

In response to international outrage, Taliban leader Maulana Fazlullah withdrew a large portion of his troops from Buner over the weekend. A spokesman for President Asif Ali Zardari insisted the peace deal was "intact" yesterday.

But Malik, the acting interior minister, called on the Taliban to disarm entirely or face fresh military action. "We have to give [the deal] a try. But if peace does not prevail, and the writ of the government continues to be challenged, then we will have to take action," he said.