Three towns in Pakistan's restive northwest have been cleared of the Taliban, Interior Minister Rehman Malik said yesterday as the military'operations against the militants entered their 42nd day.

Speaking to reporters outside parliament, Malik said the towns of Mingora, Kalam and Buner in the North West Frontier Province (NWFP) had been cleared of the Taliban and the civilians who had fled the fighting could now return home.

At the same time, he admitted it would take time for normalcy to return to the area.

Malik said some suicide bombers had been arrested during die operations in Swat, on which the security forces are now focussed, but indicated it could be a few

weeks before the area was cleared of the militants.

Pakistan's army chief, Gen. Ashfaq Parvez Kayani said Thursday that the situation in Swat has 'decisively turned' in the security forces' favour.

"The tide in Swat has decisively turned. Major population centres and roads leading to the valley have been largely cleared of organised resistance by the terrorists," Kayani said while presiding over the 119th Corps Commanders' Conference in the adjacent garrison town of Rawalpindi.

"High value targets are being aggressively hunted. To clear the remaining hideouts and sanctuaries, the army will continue to carry out operations at a limited scale," the army chief said.

The security forces were ordered into action April 26 after the Taliban reneged on a controversial peace deal with the

NWFP government and instead moved south from their Swat headquarters to occupy Buner, which is just 100 km from Islamabad.

Meanwhile, seven security personnel, including three police officers and a captain of the Frontier Corps, were killed when militants ambushed a security forces convoy near Malakand division, where the Pakistan Army is conducting operations against theTaliban.

Fhe convoy was ambushed at Natyan in Mardan district and reinforcements were rushed to the area after the attack.

The attack triggered an operation that continued till late last night. Seven security personnel including Deputy Superintendent of Police Farid Hussain Bangash, Station House Officer Sherullah Khan, Assistant Sub-Inspector Hanan Khan and a captain of the paramilitary Frontier Corps were killed during the skirmish.