Pakistan said it killed more than 80 militants in an upsurge of fighting Wednesday that caused tens of thousands to flee and threatened to torpedo a northwest peace deal. As the battle escalated, opposition leader Nawaz Sharif told Saudi Gazette he has sent a letter to Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani urging him to convene an all-party crisis meeting to forge a common strategy against the Taleban uprising that's threatening to destabilize the country and region. Helicopter gunships and artillery swung into action against Taleban in Swat Wednesday in the deadliest fighting reported in the northwest former ski resort since a February deal sought to end a nearly two-year Taleban insurgency. “Security forces were being targeted from emerald mines. In retaliatory fire 35 militants were killed,” the military said in a statement. A military official in the area said helicopter gunships and artillery bombarded the mines before ground troops recaptured the area from the Taleban.He also said there were reports of civilian casualties in fighting in Swat. In separate clashes in nearby Buner district, at least 49 militants were killed. Pakistan's cash-strapped government made emergency preparations to shelter up to 500,000 people who they expect to flee Swat and local officials said tens of thousands streamed out of the district's main town. “More than 40,000 have migrated from Mingora since Tuesday afternoon,” said Khushhal Khan, the chief administration officer in Swat. Owais Ghani, the Governor of the North West Frontier Province (NWFP) where about 1.6 million people live in the Swat Valley alone, made an appeal through the Saudi Gazette for aid from the international community to the people being uprooted by the fighting. The governor, speaking from NWFP House here, said not all the Taleban fighting in Swat are militants. “There are good and bad Taleban,” he said. “The bad Taleban are the gangsters and militants while the good Taleban want peace through dialogue with the government.” He said all the 1.6 million people in Swat are likely to flee the fighting in the days ahead. Mian Iftikhar Hussain, spokesman for the government in North West Frontier Province, did not confirm an exact number of displaced but said the government was building more emergency shelters. The UN top official for refugees Wednesday expressed deep concern over the welfare of thousands of civilians displaced by a military offensive to flush out Taliban militants in north-west Pakistan. UN High Commissioner for Refugees Antonio Guterres said he was “deeply concerned” not just for displaced Pakistanis, but also some 20,000 registered Afghan refugees who were affected by the same conflict. “We have reports that many have fled together with the local population. Some have chosen to return to Afghanistan with UNHCR assistance and others have chosen to relocate to existing refugee sites in Pakistan,” he said in a statement, referring to the Afghan refugees. In Mingora, Taleban entered several houses and were using local residents as “human shields,” the officer said on condition of anonymity. But Defense Minister Chaudry Ahmed Mukhtar said Pakistani military operations against Taleban militants in the northwest of the country will last several more weeks. “The Buner operation will finish within two to three weeks,” the minister said after talks in Berlin with German Defense Minister Franz Josef Jung. Elsewhere, artillery bombarded insurgent positions in Buner, killing 27 militants and destroying eight vehicles, paramilitary forces said. And at least 22 militants were killed in separate clashes in the district, paramilitary forces said, adding that a force was sent in after a report that 50 militants were looting villagers. SG/ with agencies __
