[Iran Press TV Latest] Taliban insurgents have vowed to target Pakistan's top leadership after the army launched a full-scale operation on militants in the Swat Valley. A Taliban commander told The News that President Asif Ali Zardari and Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani and their close family members would be prime targets. "Besides, the personnel and installations of security forces, we have now also included civilian rulers in our hit list. We will definitely need some time to plan our actions but it is not impossible for us and we have all the means to implement our plan of attack anywhere in Pakistan."
The commander said Gilani's hometown of Multan and the resting place of former premier Benazir Bhutto in Sindh province may also be targeted by the Taliban.
The Taliban threats come after Gilani ordered the army to "eliminate militants and terrorists" battling government forces in the troubled northwestern region. "The time has come when the entire nation should side with the government and the armed forces against those who want to make the entire country hostage and darken our future at gunpoint," Gilani said in a televised national address on Thursday.
President Zardari has also pledged to continue fighting Taliban militants in the Swat region until normalcy is restored.
Earlier in the day, military spokesman Major General Athar Abbas said the security forces had killed 140 militants in the region adding that due to the offensive nearly 4,000 militants estimated to be in the Swat Valley were fleeing the scene.