SLAMABAD: Pakistani troops massed outside a key Taliban base and killed 25 militants, fighting back in a major tribal belt offensive after a devastating market bomb attack, the military said Wednesday.
The latest death toll brings to 264 the total number of insurgents reported to have been killed since the operation was launched in the rugged tribal terrain of South Waziristan on October 17.
No information provided by the army can be verified, however, as communication lines are down and access to the area on the wild Afghan border is banned to journalists and aid workers.
"Security forces have surrounded Kanigurram from three sides," military spokesman Major General Athar Abbas told a news conference.
The town was considered the "operational centre" of Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP), he said. It was a major terror stronghold and an important base for Uzbek fighters in the area, he added.
Abbas also said troops were within four kilometres (2.5 miles) of another major Taliban hub, Sararogha, which lies to the east.
The military spokesman condemned Wednesday's carnage in the northwestern city of Peshawar where a bomb killed 92 people in a crowded market frequented mostly by women. "This cowardly act shows their desperation," he said.
Despite the attack, which was apparently calculated to exact maximum casualties, Abbas insisted the militants were on the defensive as troops were making steady gains into TTP territory.
"Their leadership is on the run," he said, claiming that 25 training centres and nine caves had been recently destroyed.
Around 30,000 troops are taking part in the offensive against an estimated 10-12,000 militants in the semi-autonomous and lawless tribal belt. Relief workers say more than 200,000 people have been displaced by the fighting.
Numerous previous offensives in the tribal belt have had limited success, costing the lives of 2,000 troops and ending generally with peace agreements that critics say gave the insurgents a chance to re-arm.
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