Pakistan Averts Taliban Attack as Violence Flares

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ISLAMABAD, Pakistan — Pakistani troops drove off a Taliban attack on a fort and pounded another band of militants holed up in a health center, officials said yesterday as fighting spread to a third area of the tribal belt along the Afghan border.

As many as 49 insurgents were reported killed.

The violence came a week after the threat of impeachment forced longtime American ally Pervez Musharraf to resign as president, triggering a scramble for power that resulted in the collapse of Pakistan’s governing coalition.

The party led by Prime Minister Bhutto until her assassination last December is now in a position to dominate the government and it is toughening its stance against Islamic extremists at a time when they are becoming increasingly bold.

The Taliban have claimed responsibility for a wave of suicide bombings, including one outside the country’s biggest weapons complex last week that killed at least 67 people, almost all of them civilians.

Security forces have been waging offensives against militants for several weeks in the northern Swat valley and in the Bajur tribal area, considered a launch pad for Taliban operations into Afghanistan and a possible hideaway for Osama bin Laden.

Yesterday, fighting spread to South Waziristan, a tribal region that has seen a stream of suspected American missile attacks on Al Qaeda hideouts in recent months.

The military said between 75 and 100 militants assaulted the Tiarza Fort around midnight Tuesday, but troops guarding the post and a checkpoint on a nearby bridge “responded effectively and repulsed the attack.”

Its statement said 11 militants were killed and up to 20 wounded, but made no mention of any casualties among the troops. Spokesmen for insurgent groups could not be contacted to discuss the government’s claim.


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