Angry residents beat Taliban in 3 villages

ISLAMABAD: Pakistani villagers enraged with the Taliban after the bombing of a mosque battled the militants yesterday, underscoring a shift in public opinion away from the hardline Islamists.

The military has been fighting the Taliban in the Swat valley, northwest of the capital, for more than a month after the militants took advantage of a peace pact to conquer new areas.

In retaliation for the offensive, the Taliban have stepped up bomb attacks and are suspected of being behind a suicide blast at a mosque in the Upper Dir region, near Swat, that killed about 40 people on Friday.