Pakistan's Interior Ministry Chief Rehman Malik says Maunalan Fazalullah a pro-Taliban leader in Swat valley has been surrounded by Pakistani troops, Press TV reported.
"By and large we know the location where he [Fazalullah] is hiding," Malik told reporters in Islamabad.
This is while some other reports suggest that the notorious leader may have been killed during recent offensives against the insurgents in the valley.
However, the minister neither confirmed nor denied Fazalullah's killing, according to a Press TV correspondent. "Nothing confirmed can be said at this stage without seeing his (Fazalullah's) dead body."
The warlord's death could demoralize the militants which are already on the run across the volatile valley.
The Pakistani military claims to have killed nearly 1,600 militants since it launched the crackdown about two months ago.
Earlier, Defense Minister Ahmed Mukhtar said that over the two million civilians who had been displaced by the fighting in the valley, will be able to return home very soon.
This is while South Waziristan, in the lawless border region with Afghanistan, has been hit by air raids and military shelling in recent days.
Up to 45,000 people on Monday had left their homes in a Pakistani tribal district bordering Afghanistan where many feared a full-fledged military offensive against Tehrik-e-Taliban (TeT) chief Baitullah Mehsud.
The US invasion of Afghanistan in 2001 has turned the restive tribal belt between the two neighbors into a scene of daily violence.
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