militants were gaining too much ground and might even use Buner as a bridgehead for an attack on Islamabad. On May 2, another 10 soldiers were captured in Buner. The military confirmed that some 87 militants and four soldiers had been killed in fighting in the district between April 28 and May 4. The military also stated that its troops were confronted during the fighting with wave attacks of suicide car-bombers. At least 27 suicide bombers were killed in the fighting. By May 5, troops started to push back the Taliban militants in Buner. Operation Rah-e-Rast On May 5, the third phase of the operation started as airborne troops boarded on C-130 transport aircraft, jumped off and stormed the militant-held valley of Swat. The name of this sub-operation of Black Thunderstorm has been referred to as Operation Rah-e-Rast in Urdu . In more than a month of fighting, by June 15, 30 soldiers and 1,040 militants were killed. Militant fighters were holed up in the emerald mines and in the main town of Swat district, Mingora. The emerald mines were secured by the Army's 50th Airborne division by May 7, but the militants were still holding their positions in Mingora and on a strategic hilltop overlooking the town. Meanwhile, on May 7, in Lower Dir, which was previously declared clear of the Taliban by the military, militants overran a paramilitary fort, killing three paramilitary soldiers and capturing 10 policemen. On the midnight of May 10, additional airborne troops with small teams of Pakistan Navy SEALs jumped off from C-130 transport aircraft, and attacked a Taliban hidden training camp at Banai Baba in Shangla district, which is just east from Swat. In the fighting at Banai Baba the military reported killing 150 militants for the loss of two soldiers. At the same time as the fighting in Shangla, some sporadic fighting was still continuing in Lower Dir where, over four days, 109 more militants were killed. Also, further west, in the Mohmand agency, a group of 300 militants attacked a military outpost; in the fighting that ensued 26 militants were killed and 14 soldiers were wounded. On May 12, Pakistani SSG commandos were inserted by helicopters into the Piochar area, a rear-support base for the militants in the northern part of the Swat valley, to conduct search-and-destroy operations. By May 15, the Army claimed that Buner was finally completely cleared of