Pakistani Taliban vow tough guerrilla war

PESHAWAR, Pakistan (Reuters) - Pakistani Taliban militants vowed to fight a tough, protracted guerrilla war against the army on Tuesday as a suicide car-bomber killed up to 20 people in a northwestern town, police said.

The army went on the offensive in South Waziristan, a lawless ethnic Pashtun region on the Afghan border, on October 17, aiming to root out Pakistani Taliban militants behind a wave of violence in urban areas.

The militants have responded with intensified attacks in towns and cities since the offensive was launched, killing several hundred people.

In the latest attack, a suicide bomber in a car set off explosives in a square in the center of Charsadda, 20 km (12 miles) northeast of the city of Peshawar, killing up to 20 people and wounding at least 30, town police chief Riaz Khan said.

The Waziristan offensive is closely watched by the United States and other powers embroiled in Afghanistan, as the region's rugged landscape of barren mountains, patchy forest and hidden ravines has become a global center of Islamist militancy.

Soldiers have been advancing into the militant heartland from three directions, capturing a string of important bases and entering the Taliban headquarters in the town of Makeen, the army said.

But Taliban spokesman Azam Tariq played down the militants' losses.

"They are capturing roads while our people are still operating in the forests and mountains," Tariq told Reuters by telephone from an undisclosed location.

"We have started guerrilla war against the Pakistani army. We've carried out several actions against the army and inflicted heavy losses on them," he said.

According to army figures, 495 militants have been killed since the offensive began while 48 soldiers have died.

There has been no independent verification of casualties as reporters and other independent observers are not allowed into the war zone except on an occasional trip with the military.

"TOUGHER THAN KASHMIR"