President Asif Ali Zardari said the nation was facing a "critical hour" in its fight against Islamic militants linked to Al-Qaeda, and that the military offensive in the scenic Swat region was vital to protect the constitution.

"Time has come for the entire nation to give pause to their political differences and rise to the occasion and give full support to our security forces," Zardari said in a statement late Wednesday.

"This is the only way to demonstrate our will, to keep Pakistan as a moderate, modern and democratic state where the rights of all citizens are protected," he said.

Pakistani troops have this week launched a series of operations against Taliban fighters who had taken control of Lower Dir and Buner districts, only around 100 kilometres (60 miles) outside Islamabad.

Operation Black Thunder came after intense pressure from the United States, which warned the Taliban's advance south from the Swat Valley and safe-havens near the Afghan border was posing a threat to Pakistan's very existence.

The military said Wednesday that special forces troops dropped by helicopter had re-taken Dagar, the main town in Buner, and had killed up to 50 Taliban fighters.

However the military's advance on three fronts, backed by fighter jets and attack helicopters, also met fierce resistance and much of Buner, home to around one million people, remained in Taliban hands.

Army spokesman Major General Athar Abbas said the militants had taken over police stations in three villages and were holding 52 police officers and paramilitary soldiers hostage.

Pakistan says it has wrapped up the operation it launched at the weekend in Lower Dir. It said around 70 militants and 10 soldiers were killed, while at least 30,000 civilians had fled the area.

In February the Pakistani government largely ceded control of the Swat Valley region and agreed that Islamic sharia law could be enforced in a deal to end two years of a bloody rebellion led by radical cleric Maulana Fazlullah.

But the Taliban failed to disarm and earlier this month up to 500 Taliban militants pushed into Lower Dir and Buner, imposing sharia law and terrorising the local population.

The Taliban suspended peace talks with the government Monday after the military launched it latest military operation, and it was unclear whether February's peace deal remained intact.

The new military action has been warmly welcomed by the United States, but President Barack Obama on Wednesday again expressed concern that Pakistan's civilian government may be struggling to control the situation.

"I am gravely concerned about the situation in Pakistan, not because I think that they're immediately going to be overrun and the Taliban would take over in Pakistan," Obama said.

"I'm more concerned that the civilian government there right now is very fragile," he said.

Since Obama took office the United States has ramped up missile strikes by unmanned planes targeting Taliban and Al-Qaeda leaders in the northwest tribal region to the north of the Swat Valley, causing widespread anger in Pakistan.

In the latest attack, a suspected US missile strike late Wednesday on a vehicle in South Waziristan tribal district, bordering Afghanistan, killed at least six militants.

South Waziristan is a stronghold of Pakistan's top Taliban commander, Baitullah Mehsud, who recently threatened to avenge missile strikes with attacks across the country and in the United States.

American and British commanders battling the insurgency in neighbouring Afghanistan have grown increasingly frustrated with Pakistan's inability to stem the flow of weapons and fighters from Pakistan's northern tribal regions.

earlier related report
US lawmakers seek to speed Pakistan aid
Spurred by the White House, the US Congress sought ways Tuesday to speed aid to Pakistan amid deep and growing worries about the nuclear-armed country's stability, lawmakers and aides said.

"We are discussing with the administration what is needed, and I think that all of us are very concerned about what's happening in Pakistan," Democratic House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer told reporters.

But hopes faded for an emergency assistance package of up to 400 million dollars, designed as a down payment of sorts on 1.4 billion dollars for Pakistan in a spending bill for the Iraq and Afghanistan wars.

Top members of the House of Representatives met late Tuesday and agreed instead to move ahead with that 83.4-billion-dollar supplemental spending bill, which could now face a vote by mid-June, a knowledgeable source said.

"We will do aid to Pakistan but (it is) now likely to be part of the supp(lemental) -- which will be on the floor in two weeks -- rather than broken out and passed early," said the congressional source.

That approach could face resistance from lawmakers who warn that the supplemental might not pass before July and that the situation in Pakistan is dire and that the "war on terrorism" ally cannot wait for the supplemental.

"I just returned from Pakistan, and the situation there is deteriorating," Republican Senator Jon Kyl told reporters, warning that "if we were to wait until roughly close to the 1st of July, it could be too little, too late."

"The administration is looking right now at pulling a small part of that money out, somewhere between 200 million dollars and 400 million dollars, for both counterinsurgency and economic assistance, that we could pass really quickly, in just a matter of days," said Kyl.

Even as US military and diplomatic officials praised Pakistan for military operations against Taliban militants in the northwest and voiced hope the offensive would be sustained, lawmakers expressed deep concerns.

"Bottom line with Pakistan: It is terribly worrisome. It's probably the place that most people worry about the most right now," said Democratic Senator Chuck Schumer, who predicted Democrats would be "strongly supportive" of urgent US aid for the "war on terrorism" ally.

Kyl and Schumer spoke before Hoyer, Democratic House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, and other key lawmakers met to discuss the matter and try to map a way forward, said a Democratic aide, who requested anonymity.

Obama's special envoy for Pakistan and Afghanistan, veteran diplomat Richard Holbrooke, made the case for urgent aid in meetings with top Democrats in recent days, said another Democratic congressional aide.

That aide said it was not clear how much support existed in the US Congress for speeding financial assistance to Pakistan amid concerns that US aid does not reach the Pakistani people.

But Hoyer said lawmakers would act: "If something needs to be done, I think the answer to your question is we're going to address it."

"Pakistan in many ways is of higher concern right now than Afghanistan," he said. "And Afghanistan is something that has a high level of concern as well.

"I think everybody's concerned about what's happening there, what's happening with the Taliban. The stability of Pakistan is very, very important to not only the region but to the United States as well."

The Wall Street Journal, citing unnamed sources, reported Tuesday that, barring congressional action, Obama could seek to push the money through presidential actions that may not require congressional support.

Share This Article With Planet Earth

del.icio.us	Digg	Reddit
YahooMyWeb	Google	Facebook

Related Links
News From Across The Stans

Memory Foam Mattress Review

SPACE MEDIA NETWORK PROMOTIONS Solar Energy Solutions Tempur-Pedic Mattress Comparison ... Newsletters :: SpaceDaily :: SpaceWar :: TerraDaily :: Energy Daily XML Feeds :: Space News :: Earth News :: War News :: Solar Energy News