BANAI BABA ZIARAT, Pakistan — A Pakistani flag now flies over army troops dug in on a strategic ridge that until two days ago was held by the Taliban, a base where militants trained fighters, built tunnels and equipped caves with electricity and air vents.
The takeover of the highest Taliban stronghold in the Swat Valley is evidence of the success of Pakistan’s month-old army offensive. The action has been welcomed by the United States, which fears the nuclear-armed country is capitulating to the militants.
But much of the region still remains in the hands of the Islamic militants, including Buner — a district just 60 miles from the capital, Islamabad, and the focus of intense air and ground operations in recent weeks, according to witnesses and police officers who spoke to an Associated Press reporter.
Several residents pointed to the mountains and warned that the Taliban were not far away.
“We have been destroyed by the Taliban,” said white-bearded Ayub Khan, as army trucks rumbled past a ruined market and a charred gas station where a suicide bomber had killed four soldiers in the early days of the battle.
The Swat offensive has triggered an exodus of nearly 1.9 million refugees, more than 160,000 to sweltering camps, while the rest have been taken in by relatives, friends or in rented accommodations.
The army claims to have killed more than 1,000 militants but said Friday the Taliban controls the main town of Mingora; Piochar, a side-valley farther north that is a Taliban base; and several other districts.
