Fazlullah cornered,Swat battle in final phase,says Pak

Reports from North and South Waziristan said about 20 militants and two women were killed in attacks by fighter jets that were carried out after the Taliban struck at four military bases overnight.

Interior Minister Rehman Malik said on Monday that Maulana Fazlullah,a deputy of Tehrik-e-Taliban Pakistan chief Baitullah Mehsud,had been injured in an attack or surrounded by troops.

There are reports that Maulana Fazlullah has been injured, Malik was quoted as saying by Geo News channel. Malik also told reporters that Fazlullah had been spotted and would not escape. However,he added that nothing could be confirmed without seeing (Fazlullahs) body.

Fazlullahs brother was injured during an operation by security forces while members of his family have been detained in Haripur,Malik said.

The Army sought to play down the issue,with chief military spokesman Maj Gen Athar Abbas saying there was no confirmed information about the whereabouts of Fazlullah.

Abbas told a news briefing that the military was engaged in positioning forces and preparatory manoeuvres before launching an operation in Waziristan against Mehsud and his network.

Up to 45,000 people have left their homes,many fearing a military offensive against Taliban warlord Baitullah Mehsud in a Pakistani tribal district bordering Afghanistan,an official said on Monday.

In Swat,troops were in the final phase of eliminating terrorist hideouts and camps,he said. Biha valley,the last stronghold of the Taliban in northern Swat,has been fully secured and Shamozai in the west is being cleared.

Prime Minister Yousaf Raza Gilani said that the Talibans first,second and third tier leadership in Swat had been killed.