Islamabad: Army troops today stepped up their offensive to regain control of a key district in northwestern Pakistan that was taken over by pro-Taliban militants, killing 75 rebels in fresh fighting even as hundreds of people fled the region.

The Army said it had "cleared a hub of resistance of militants from a prominent height" near the road leading to Alpuri, the headquarters of Shangla district which was over-run by armed followers of radical cleric Maulana Fazlullah. Troops also engaged militant positions in mountains in and around the Shangla-Kandao Pass with small arms, artillery and mortar fire.

The Army said up to 75 militants were killed in these two operation since yesterday, including about 35 rebels who were killed today. The troops are moving closer to Shangla and consolidating their positions and eliminating militants before making a push towards Alpuri, officials said.

"We are concentrating on Shangla and evicting militants from there," military spokesman Maj Gen Waheed Arshad said. The militants continued to strike at security forces in the Swat valley, located just 160 km from Islamabad, despite being pounded by gunship helicopters and artillery since the Army assumed the lead role in operations last week.

Militants fired 18 to 20 rockets at a camp of the security forces at Kabal near Mingora, the main town of Swat district. The troops responded with retaliatory fire, the Army said.

Source : PTI