Islamabad: Pakistan's prime minister insisted today that citizens were increasingly supportive of military action against insurgents.

The clashes in Bajaur -- where a top official said militants have been forcing local families to give up their sons to fight -- was coupled with violence elsewhere in the volatile northwest. Police said they had launched a crackdown on militants on the outskirts of Peshawar, capturing 35 suspects.

"Today when we are taking action, when the army comes out, the whole masses go along them," Gilani said. "People are supporting the government. People are against terrorists."

He noted that some tribes had set up their own armies to root out militants, while warning foreign insurgents to stay away from their areas.

Overall, more than 1,000 alleged militants have died since Pakistan launched the offensive in Bajur in early August, officials said.

The effort has won praise from US officials, who say al-Qaida and Taliban fighters involved in attacks on US and NATO forces in Afghanistan use Bajur and neighbouring tribal regions as safe havens.

The offencive, which could last up to two more months, proceeds as Pakistan struggles with economic problems, power shortages and violence throughout the country, including a massive attack that devastated the Marriott Hotel in Islamabad a week ago.

Many Pakistanis believe that their nation's support of the US-led war on terror has bred violence in their country. Speaking to business leaders in the southern city of Karachi, where three suicide bombers blew themselves up to avoid police capture the previous day, Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani said the tide was turning against domestic extremism.
Source : PTI