Pakistan on Thursday said the objectives of the anti-Taliban operation in the Swat valley had been “achieved” and the nearly two million displaced people could start returning home next week, even as 12 militants were killed in airstrikes elsewhere in the unruly tribal belt.

“We have achieved the targets,” Prime Minister Yousaf Raza Gilani told reporters here.

People displaced by the fighting in Swat and other parts of Malakand division will begin returning to their homes from July 13 though the Army will remain in the area even after the culmination of operations, he said.

At least 1,700 militants have been killed in the ongoing operations, Gilani said. Asked whether the drive would continue, he said it will be the NWFP Government’s prerogative to make a decision in this regard and it can call in the Army whenever required.

Despite the Government’s claims about the success of the operations, diplomatic sources said that the campaign had only resulted in bringing militancy within “manageable levels”.

The Government and forces still have a major task on their hands as many top militant leaders were still at large with hundreds of fighters, the sources said.

“We want to see the institutions strong and people supreme,” Gilani said adding a cantonment will be set up in Swat to counter the threat of militancy in the border areas.

The operation against the Taliban continued in the South Waziristan, where fighter jets pounded their positions, killing at least 12 militants. The military said in a statement that security forces were continuing search and clearance operations in Swat and other parts of Malakand. Umar Zada, a militant commander of Swat, was killed on Wednesday and his body was found on Thursday.