Swat's main town "fully under control"

Pakistani forces have regained full control of Mingora, a week after re-entering the main town in Swat to dislodge thousands of Taliban fighters, the army says. Recapturing the town would raise the prospect that some of more than 2 million people who have fled the conflict zone could soon begin to go home, alleviating a humanitarian crisis. Swat's main town "fully under control" "It's very good that Mingora city has come under the full control of the security forces," military spokesman Major-General Athar Abbas told a news conference. He said medical teams and food supplies had arrived in the town, which had been cut off since the start of the month. Gas supplies were restored, but the electricity grid needed to be repaired. "It will take at least two weeks to restore amenities," Abbas said. Around 300,000 people had lived in Mingora until the Taliban occupied the town in early May when the army first launched an offensive in Swat. The security forces have secured an area of up to 70 km (44 miles) north of Mingora, including the town of Bahrain, Abbas said. He told Reuters shortly before the news conference that some militants were still putting up resistance on Mingora's outskirts. Mass exodus Abbas said 1,217 militants had been killed since the fighting began in late April, while 81 soldiers had been killed, and 250 wounded. There are no independent casualty estimates available. The mass exodus from the valley and the neighboring regions of Lower Dir and Buner, where fighting had broken out in mid-April, prompted UN warnings of a long-term humanitarian crisis. The United Nations has pleaded for international support for a USD 543mn fund to help Pakistan cope. Almost 90 percent of the displaced people have been offered shelter by families in neighboring peaceful areas, while the rest have headed for the camps that have sprung up around towns like Mardan and Swabi. There are fears of disease breaking out as summer temperatures soar on the plains below the mountains of the northwest.

Swat's main town "fully under control"

"It's very good that Mingora city has come under the full control of the security forces," military spokesman Major-General Athar Abbas told a news conference.

He said medical teams and food supplies had arrived in the town, which had been cut off since the start of the month.

Gas supplies were restored, but the electricity grid needed to be repaired.

"It will take at least two weeks to restore amenities," Abbas said.

Around 300,000 people had lived in Mingora until the Taliban occupied the town in early May when the army first launched an offensive in Swat.

The security forces have secured an area of up to 70 km (44 miles) north of Mingora, including the town of Bahrain, Abbas said.

He told Reuters shortly before the news conference that some militants were still putting up resistance on Mingora's outskirts.

Mass exodus

Abbas said 1,217 militants had been killed since the fighting began in late April, while 81 soldiers had been killed, and 250 wounded. There are no independent casualty estimates available.

The mass exodus from the valley and the neighboring regions of Lower Dir and Buner, where fighting had broken out in mid-April, prompted UN warnings of a long-term humanitarian crisis.

The United Nations has pleaded for international support for a USD 543mn fund to help Pakistan cope.

Almost 90 percent of the displaced people have been offered shelter by families in neighboring peaceful areas, while the rest have headed for the camps that have sprung up around towns like Mardan and Swabi.

There are fears of disease breaking out as summer temperatures soar on the plains below the mountains of the northwest.