ISLAMABAD, Pakistan — Pakistani commandos dropped from helicopters Wednesday into an area behind Taliban lines about 80 miles from Islamabad, the capital, and regained control of a key town, the army said. But authorities faced a fresh challenge after militants seized a police station, holding dozens of people hostage.
Helicopters dropped troops before 8 a.m. near Daggar, the main town in the Buner district, the army said. The area has seen fighting between the military and Taliban forces for several days.
The army said it had killed at least 50 militants in Buner during the past two days of fighting but estimated that 500 fighters remain.
The offensive might last another week, the military added, given that troops are running into resistance in mountainous areas.
“We assure the nation that armed forces have the capability to ward off any kind of threat,” a military spokesman, Maj. Gen. Athar Abbas, told reporters.
Abbas said the army had destroyed two ammunition depots used by the militants but still had not managed to reach several towns in Buner that remain Taliban strongholds, including Pir Baba and Ambela.
Eighteen police and paramilitary personnel seized by the Taliban in the Pir Baba police station Tuesday were freed Wednesday, but about 50 hostages still remain in the hands of militants.
The government has been trying in recent days to push the militants back into their base in the Swat Valley in northern Pakistan from at least two adjoining districts, Buner and Dir.
Taliban fighters since early April have sought to expand their influence beyond Swat. They were apparently emboldened after the government agreed in February to a peace deal that granted them the right to impose Sharia, or Islamic law, over residents in Swat and surrounding areas in return for laying down their weapons.
Most militants failed to put away automatic weapons, however. This challenge, combined with strong U.S. pressure and growing alarm by Pakistan’s own middle class, pushed the government to mount the ongoing military operation, analysts said.
In other developments Wednesday, officials here say a suspected U.S. missile strike killed five people in Pakistani territory along the Afghan border. The unmanned, or drone, U.S. missile strikes are extremely unpopular in Pakistan, drawing criticism that the nation’s sovereignty is being violated.
Meanwhile, the Obama administration asked for millions of dollars Wednesday to help equip and train Pak istan’s army to fight insurgents inside its borders and shift away from its traditional focus on rival India.
Undersecretary of Defense Policy Michele Flournoy said the effort marks the first time the Pentagon planned to direct anti-insurgency money toward training and outfitting of Pakistan’s army. The U.S. already is aiding Pakistani special forces and frontier militias.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
