One more for the good guys :)

Taliban run out of Swat town
Pakistan army claims victory after taking control of major centre
By ROHAN SULLIVAN, THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
Last Updated: 31st May 2009, 3:20am

ISLAMABAD -- The Taliban have fled the Pakistani army's advance on the main town in the Swat Valley, delivering the military a strategic prize in its offensive against militants in the country's northwest, commanders said yesterday.

Taliban fighters had dug themselves into bunkers built into hotels and government buildings in Mingora, and initially offered stiff resistance as troops first closed roads leading to the town then began moving in earlier this week, army spokesman Maj.-Gen. Athar Abbas said.

Aid was being distributed to some of the estimated 20,000 who were trapped in Mingora, and water and gas supplies were being restored. But Abbas said it would be at least two weeks before power is switched back on, and refugees were not yet being encouraged to start returning to their homes.

About three million people have fled the fighting in Swat, and the exodus has raised fears of a humanitarian crisis.

Abbas said an unknown number of militant fighters were able to escape Mingora despite the military having it surrounded.

The military launched a major offensive about one month ago in the Swat Valley and neighbouring areas to oust Taliban militants who had been extending their control over the northwestern region near the border with Afghanistan.

Government troops had been advancing steadily into the Swat region for about a month, bombarding towns from the air and fighting house-to-house with Taliban gunmen in some places.

"When they realized that if they did not leave these areas the noose would tighten around them and they would not find a way to leave ... they decided to end the fight and leave," Abbas said.

Information Minister Qamar Zaman Kaira said the number of people uprooted by the fighting had reached "around three million," and that more than 190,000 of them were living in refugee camps. The rest are staying with relatives or relying on goodwill from local residents.

The widespread domestic support for the campaign so far could sour if the government is perceived to have failed the refugees, or if a high number of civilian casualties is revealed.

Abbas said an emergency medical team had been flown to Mingora and would work to reopen the town's hospital and treat wounded civilians.

The Taliban has warned it will launch terrorist strikes in Pakistani cities in retaliation, and claimed responsibility for last Wednesday's gun and suicide bomb attack in Lahore that killed at least 30 people. A day later, three suicide bombings killed at least 14 people in two cities in the northwest.

Source:
http://www.torontosun.com/news/world/2009/05/31/9628371-sun.html