Pakistani troops killed up to 60 militants as a punishing ground and air offensive against Taliban fighters in the country's northwest ran into fierce resistance Friday, the military said. Earlier Pakistan provincial authorities said that they rejected a pro-Taleban cleric's request to halt an offensive against the fighters The army pounded Taleban positions for a sixth day since launching its latest assault after the hardliners advanced to within 100 kilometers of the capital Islamabad. As the fighting raged, US Defence Secretary Robert Gates appealed to Congress to free up money for military aid to Pakistan, which is central to Washington's strategy for stopping the insurgency in neighboring Afghanistan. Between 55 to 60 militants were killed in the last 24 hours in the district of Buner, where the “operation is continuing successfully,” military spokesman Major General Athar Abbas told a briefing update at army headquarters. Based on combined tolls released by the military, nearly 200 militants have been killed in Operation Black Thunder since tanks, fighter jets and helicopter gunships swung into action in Buner and neighbouring Lower Dir. The deaths could not be independently confirmed. Government officials and cleric Sufi Mohammad met for the first time Friday after talks were suspended Monday. Provincial officials and supporters of Mohammad described the 30-minute meeting as “positive” but no date for a second meeting was announced. “Sufi Mohammad asked us to halt the operation,” information minister of North West Frontier Province, Mian Iftikhar Hussain, said. “The operation will be halted when the armed people lay down their weapons because the government has to establish its writ at any cost,” he added. But Mohammad's spokesman said the government had given assurances that the operation would be stopped in the districts of Buner and Lower Dir. “The government has given us assurances that the operation in Buner and Dir will be finished,” Ameer Izzat Khan said from Timergara, the main town in Lower Dir where the talks took place. People living in Buner said Friday that the fighting was heavy. “I can't sleep in my bedroom because my house keeps rattling all night due to heavy shelling,” said 60-year-old Habibulah Khan, who runs a pharmacy in Nawagai, where he said all but four villagers had fled. Hazrat Khan, 26, a teacher in Sultanwas, said he, his wife and four children had been holed up at home for four days, with food running low.
