Pakistani Interior Minister Rehman Malik said Monday that up to 700 militants had been killed in the operation in northwestern Pakistan so far.

Speaking to reporters in Islamabad, Rehman Malik said that 20 security forces soldiers were also killed in the operation which will continue till the elimination of the Taliban.

Malik said Pakistan made an aid appeal to the international community for the displaced of the Swat operation. He said 296,000 people had been displaced due to the operation and the top priority was to rehabilitate the displaced persons.

The provincial government of North West Frontier Province inked a deal with an outlawed group led by cleric Sufi Muhammad in February. The government agreed to enforce Sharia, or Islamic law, in Malakand Division of NWFP including the restive Swat valley once peace was restored there.

However, Taliban militants in early April entered Buner District from the neighboring Swat district and were reluctant to vacate the area despite their pledge to do so. The security forces then started a military operation against them in Buner, followed by operations in other areas in the northwest.

Pakistani Prime Minister Yousaf Raza Gilani on Thursday said the armed forces had been called in to take decisive action against militants and terrorists in the northwest.

(Xinhua News Agency May 11, 2009)