Taliban Commander Plus 9 Other Terrorists Killed

Pakistani forces killed a taliban commander, Ali Bakht, along with 9 other taliban terrorists. After about several months of bad publicity for Pakistan, specifically that it's secret service, the ISI, and army are helping out the taliban, Pakistan needs to quite it's critics. But I will not be fooled into thinking that Pakistan is an actual ally all of a sudden. Bloomberg

Aug. 7 (Bloomberg) -- Pakistan's army said a militant commander was among nine gunmen killed in a raid in the northwestern Swat Valley as successful military operations allowed authorities to ease curfew restrictions.

Ali Bakht was among those killed in the Devloi area yesterday, the army said in a statement. Security forces killed as many as 94 militants in five days of fighting in the region, the military said three days ago.

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The army has been fighting since last year against supporters of Maulana Fazlullah, a pro-Taliban cleric, who wants to impose Islamic law in the Swat Valley, a once popular tourist destination about 250 kilometers (150 miles) from Pakistan's capital, Islamabad.

Ali Bakht is a close associate of Fazlullah, the British Broadcasting Corp. reported. His death was confirmed by an unidentified Taliban spokesman, it said.

Militants have threatened to organize suicide bombings in Pakistani cities unless the army stops its offensives in Swat, the BBC said on its Web site.

The provincial government agreed in May to withdraw soldiers and allow Islamic law in the valley. Fighters have repeatedly violated the accord by burning schools for girls and abducting and killing members of the security forces, the official Associated Press of Pakistan cited Brigadier Zia Anjum Bodla as saying Aug. 4.