[Dawn] Security forces killed 16 militants, at least two of them senior Taliban members, while one soldier was killed in clashes during searches in Swat on Monday, the military said.The forces also intensified a hunt for the Pakistani Taliban leader in the Swat valley, military officials said.
Security forces have made gains against the militants recently, months after Taliban advances and bomb attacks raised fears for Pakistan's future and contributed to a slide in investor confidence.
Interior Minister Rehman Malik said on Sunday, the top Taliban leader in the Swat valley, about 120 km northwest of Islamabad, was surrounded, adding the back of the Taliban insurgency had been broken.
The military's chief spokesman was more cautious, saying efforts were being made to capture the Swat Taliban chief, a self-styled cleric called Fazlullah, but media reports of his imminent capture were speculation.
Military officials in the former tourist valley said troops were searching in different places and clashes had erupted.
'Our teams are carrying out search operations, particularly for him in two or three areas. For sure he can't flee from Swat,' said a senior military official who declined to be identified, referring to Fazlullah.
'We'd like to capture him today,' the official said, while declining to say when he might be tracked down.
'We don't want to waste time with such operations but you can't give a timeframe.'
The army launched an offensive in the Swat valley in late April and killed more than 2,000 fighters, according to the army. There has been no independent verification of that estimate.
The Pakistani Taliban under the overall command of Baitullah Mehsud were held responsible for a wave of attacks across the country from 2007, including the assassination of former prime minister Benazir Bhutto in December that year.
Mehsud was killed in a missile attack by a US drone aircraft in his South Waziristan stronghold in early August.
US and Pakistani officials said Mehsud's death left the militants in disarray and riven by rivalry but analysts say it is too early to say if their setbacks are a permanent blow or if they might regroup and strike back.