Pakistani troops discover five headless corpses

TROOPS secured footholds yesterday in a Pakistani valley overrun by the Taliban, killing 11 militants and discovering five headless corpses near the region’s main town, the army said.

Elsewhere in the turbulent northwest, police said dozens of assailants stormed a transport depot handling supplies for Nato troops in neighbouring Afghanistan and torched eight trucks.

Rising violence, including a string of attacks on Nato and US supplies, have fed concern that more of Pakistan’s border region is slipping from government control and into the hands of the Taliban and al-Qaida.

Afghan president Hamid Karzai warned last night that the threat militants pose to both countries is very real.

“Terrorists and extremists are extending their reach in whole areas of our countries,” Karzai told an economic conference in the Pakistani capital, Islamabad.

Under strong US pressure, Pakistan abandoned peace talks last month with Taliban militants and launched a military operation to expel them from their stronghold in the Swat Valley.

The army claims to have killed more than 750 militants since the operation began. But the fighting has also driven about 800,000 people from their homes, creating a humanitarian emergency that could undercut support for the pro-Western government.

The army said it had established a “firm hold” in the remote Piochar area, the rear base of Swat Taliban leader Maulana Fazlullah.

Troops were also consolidating their positions near a strategic bridge and a shrine in the valley, the army said.

Clashes in the previous 24 hours left four soldiers and 11 militants dead, it said.