Swat fight 'may take two months'

Pakistani troops say they are making progress in the north-west

The offensive to eject the Taliban from the Swat valley of Pakistan could take another two months to complete, a senior army officer has said.

Chief army spokesman Gen Athar Abbas said that troops needed time to stop militants from retaking control.

The armed forces say that they have secured control over several key towns during the month-old campaign.

Pakistan launched the assault to "eliminate" militants in the north-west in late April under heavy US pressure.

It did so as concern mounted nationally and internationally over the advance of the Taliban to within 100km (60 miles) of Islamabad.

"The big cities and big towns will stand clear within three days time," Gen Abbas told the AFP news agency on a visit to Mingora, the main city in Swat.

He said that although the Taliban was an elusive enemy that refrained from fighting pitched battles during the six-week offensive in the north-west, it "may be another two months when we can say the complete area is fully secured".

Even this was a rough estimate, he said.

The army said that troops may have to stay for a year to prevent militants from retaking control in the area.

Officials say that 40 kidnapped students remain unaccounted for

The army's predictions are more cautious than those given a few days ago by the Pakistani defence secretary, who said he expected final Taliban resistance in Swat to be mopped up within days.

The army says it has secured control of several key towns during the offensive. The fighting has triggered a series of suspected reprisal attacks elsewhere.

Some 2.5 million people have fled their homes since military operations began in Swat more than a month ago.

Another general, Ijaz Awan, a senior commander in the eight-day battle for Mingora, said the military was gearing up for a fight in nearby town of Kabal where top Taliban leaders are suspected of being holed up.

"We have bottled them up very well, hopefully this will be a decisive battle," he said. "Their deaths are vital to killing their myth."

Abducted

Meanwhile police on Wednesday said that about 40 students out of dozens who were kidnapped in the north-west earlier this week remain unaccounted for.

They said that two teachers were still being held captive in an unknown place after being abducted in an area close to the North Waziristan tribal area.

Officials say that some of those still being held captive had been allowed to call their parents, although no ransom or other demands were made. The captors did not identify themselves.

On Tuesday a spokesman for the Razmak Cadet College said that all of the abducted students were accounted for, except for 20 who had escaped from the militants earlier and could still have been making their way to the town of Bannu.

Officials say it is probable they are now among the students still being held.

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