Pakistan suspends militant operations for Ramadan

By Augustine Anthony

ISLAMABAD (Reuters) - Pakistan announced on Saturday a suspension of military operations against Islamist militants for the Muslim fasting month of Ramadan, but a senior official said security forces would respond if attacked.

Violence has intensified in Pakistan in recent weeks with the military battling militants in three different parts of the northwest. The militants have responded with bomb attacks on the security forces.

Deteriorating security has coincided with a faltering economy and political upheaval, with the resignation of the unpopular Pervez Musharraf as president last week followed within days by a split in the ruling coalition.

Worry about security and politics has unnerved investors who have sent Pakistani financial markets skidding lower. The country's main share index has fallen about 36 percent this year.

The government's top Interior Ministry official, Rehman Malik, said security forces would suspend operations from Sunday night for the month of Ramadan, which ends at the beginning of October, but would retaliate if attacked.

"If militants take any action the security forces will respond with full force," Malik told reporters in the eastern city of Lahore.

Pakistani Taliban spokesmen were not immediately available for comment.

The United States and other allies have been concerned the government led by assassinated former prime minister Benazir Bhutto's party might be less committed to the unpopular war against militancy after the resignation of firm ally Musharraf.

Washington says al Qaeda and Taliban militants are based in sanctuaries in northwest Pakistan's ethnic Pashtun tribal areas on the Afghan border, where they orchestrate attacks in Afghanistan and Pakistan and plot violence in the West.

TOURIST VALLEY

But the offensives by the military have eased the worry.

Admiral Mike Mullen, chairman of the U.S. Joint Chiefs of Staff, said this week after talks with Pakistan's army chief he was encouraged by the Pakistani efforts.

Some of the most intense fighting in recent weeks has been in the Swat Valley, about 150 km (100 miles) northwest of the capital, Islamabad, where the military said nearly 40 militants were killed in the latest clashes.

The military used jet fighters and helicopter gunships to attack militant positions in the Matta area on Friday, with the assault continuing into Saturday. Nearly 40 had been killed in the past 24 hours, a military spokesman said.

The mountain valley was one of Pakistan's main tourist destinations until last year, when Pakistani Taliban infiltrated from sanctuaries in lawless areas on the Afghan border to support a radical cleric campaigning for hard-line rule.