Pakistani Interior Minister Rehman Malik said Monday that the military operation would continue till elimination of the last terrorist.

Speaking at a police prize distribution ceremony in Islamabad in the National Library, Malik said Pakistani army officers were sacrificing their lives for the country whereas terrorists were killing innocent citizens.

Malik said that terrorists using children for suicide attacks by giving their parents money between 0.5 million rupees (about 6250 U.S. dollars to 2.5 million rupees (about 31,250 U.S. dollars).

He said that terrorists had no option but to lay down their arms and they were fleeing Dir, Buner and Swat districts where the military operation is going on.

He also announced that 20,000 would be recruited in Islamabad as police and said that uniform allowance and scanners would be provided to them. The salary of martyred officials will be given to their families till the age of their retirement and plots will also be given to the relatives of the martyred, he added.

Pakistani security forces launched the military operation against Taliban militants late April after militants in early April entered the Buner district from the neighboring Swat district and refused to vacate the area despite their pledge to do so.

Source: Xinhua