Pakistan reports 16 Taliban deaths

Published: May 3, 2009 at 10:01 AM

ISLAMABAD, Pakistan, May 3 (UPI) --

At least 16 Taliban fighters were killed in Mohmand as Pakistan's army and the Taliban traded fire throughout the Frontier Province, military sources said Sunday.

The 16 were killed overnight Saturday when an estimated 100 Taliban fighters attacked a Frontier Corps checkpoint in Mohmand, a Taliban stronghold, CNN reported.

The attack came amid the stepped up Pakistani offensive against militants in Buner district, where Pakistan's army Saturday secured a key road in Ambela-Daggar and cleared it of roadside bombs, military officials told CNN.

In the Upper Dir district, Taliban fighters Saturday kidnapped and then released 10 soldiers and seized their weaponry and ammunition, CNN reported.

Negotiators for each side met Friday to discuss Pakistan's contention the Taliban violated a peace agreement in the North West Frontier Province. The two sides agreed to meet again in the coming days, a provincial spokesman said.

Taliban behead two Pakistani officials in Swat

By Junaid Khan Junaid Khan – Sun May 3, 8:43 am ET

MINGORA, Pakistan (Reuters) –

Pakistani Taliban have beheaded two government officials in the northwestern Swat Valley in revenge for the killing of two Taliban commanders by security forces, a Taliban fighters spokesman said on Sunday.

Authorities struck a peace deal in February aimed at ending militant violence in the former tourist valley of Swat but the militants have refused to disarm and pushed out of the valley into neighboring districts.

The Pakistani Taliban aggression raised alarm in the United States and in Islamabad, and a week ago the security forces launched an offensive to expel Taliban fighters from two of Swat's neighboring districts.

The two government officials were kidnapped and beheaded on Saturday evening in Khuwaza Kheil, a village 18 km (10 miles) north of the valley's main town of Mingora, said town police chief Danishwar Khan.

Their bodies were dumped beside a road.

"They beheaded the officers. We've sent an ambulance to pick up the bodies," Khan said.

Taliban spokesman Muslim Khan said the beheadings were revenge for the killing of two low-level Taliban commanders earlier on Saturday.

The U.S. State Department said last week the number of people killed in Taliban fighters attacks in nuclear-armed Pakistan last year rose by more than 70 percent over the 2007 figure.

The violence has raised fears for the prospects of the vital U.S. ally in its efforts to stabilize neighboring Afghanistan.

President Asif Ali Zardari will meet U.S. President Barack Obama and Afghan counterpart Hamid Karzai in Washington on May 6-7 to discuss how to destroy al Qaeda and Taliban sanctuaries on the Pakistani-Afghan border.

Obama said last week the situation in Pakistan warranted "grave concern".

A U.S. official said on Thursday the United States and Pakistan would likely discuss stepping up U.S. training for Pakistani security forces during Zardari's visit.

The army launched an offensive to clear militants from the Dir and Buner districts after U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton accused the government of abdicating to the Taliban.

More than 170 Taliban fighters have been killed since the offensive was launched on April 26, according to the military. There has been no independent confirmation of the military's casualty reports.

(Writing by Kamran Haider; Editing by Robert Birsel and Jerry Norton)

Taliban kill US 'spy' in NW Pakistan

Sun May 3, 8:28 am ET

MIRANSHAH, Pakistan (AFP) –

Taliban fighters shot dead an Afghan national in Pakistan's northwest tribal belt after accusing him of spying for the United States, a police official said Sunday.

The bullet-ridden body of Fazal Haq, 28, was found on Sunday dumped by the side of a road in Naurak village, 15 kilometres (nine miles) east of Miranshah, the main town in the semi-autonomous North Waziristan tribal region.

"Haq, who was kidnapped two months ago, had multiple bullet wounds on his body," local tribal police official Omar Niaz told AFP.

A note written in Pashto language and found on Haq's body said: "He was killed because of spying for the US against the Taliban."

Almost every week, Taliban fighters kidnap and kill tribesmen, accusing them of spying for the Pakistani government or US forces operating across the border in Afghanistan, where Taliban fighters are leading an insurgency.