Taliban chief’s hometown captured

ISLAMABAD, Pakistan | Pakistani soldiers captured the hometown of the country’s Taliban chief Saturday, a strategic and symbolic initial prize as the army pushes deeper into a militant stronghold along the Afghan border. An army spokesman said the Taliban was in disarray, with many deserting its ranks.

The 8-day-old air and ground offensive in the South Waziristan tribal region is a key test of nuclear-armed Pakistan’s campaign against Islamist militancy. It has already spurred a civilian exodus and deadly retaliatory attacks.

Washington has encouraged the operation in the northwest because many militants there are believed to shelter al Qaeda leaders and are also suspected to be involved in attacks on Western troops in Afghanistan. The U.S. military has also kept up its own missile strikes in the lawless tribal belt, including a suspected one that killed 22 Saturday.

The battle for Kotkai town was symbolically key because it is the hometown of Pakistani Taliban chief Hakimullah Mehsud and one of his top deputies, Qari Hussain. It also lies along the way to the major militant base of Sararogha, making it a strategically helpful catch.

The fight was intense, taking several days and involving aerial bombardment, officials said.

The majority of homes in the town were converted into “strong bunkers,” and it was home to a training camp for suicide bombers, army spokesman Maj. Gen. Athar Abbas told reporters. Troops had begun ridding it of land mines and roadside bombs.

“Thank God, this is the army’s very big success,” Gen. Abbas said. “The good news is that [communications] intercepts show that there are differences forging among the Taliban ranks. Their aides are deserting them.”

Gen. Abbas said some of the fleeing Taliban have shaved their beards and cut their hair to try to blend in with the civilian population. Taliban spokesmen could not immediately be reached for comment.

Three soldiers and 21 militants died in the most recent fighting in the region, the army said. Because it has blocked access to South Waziristan, independently verifying the data is all but impossible.

The government has forged ahead in South Waziristan despite a wave of violence that has put the nation on edge. Some 200 people have been killed in a variety of militant attacks across the country this month.

The army has deployed some 30,000 troops to South Waziristan to take on about 12,000 Taliban militants, including up to 1,500 foreign fighters, among them Uzbeks and Arabs.

The U.S. has launched scores of missile strikes at militant targets in Pakistan’s tribal belt over the past year, killing several top insurgents.

The latest strike hit Chuhatra village in the tribal region of Bajur on Saturday, local government official Mohammad Jamil said.

The target appeared to be Faqir Mohammad, a prominent Taliban leader, but he is believed to have escaped the hideout by minutes, Mr. Jamil said. Most of the 22 killed were Afghan nationals, he said.

Also Saturday, a military helicopter crashed in the Bajur tribal region, killing three officials, the army said, adding that the crash was an accident.