The operations had begun from Lower Dir, the home district of radical cleric Sufi Mohammad, who had negotiated the peace deal and who is the father-in-law of Swat Taliban commander Maulana Fazlullah. The focus later shifted to Buner and Swat.

The military says over 1,500 Taliban have been killed in the operations. While Sufi Mohammad has been captured, Fazlullah's whereabouts are a mystery.

With the operations in Malakand virtually over, the military has now trained its guns on the South Waziristan region along the border with Afghanistan.

Baitullah Mehsud, whose writ ran over much of the area, was killed in a US drone attack earlier this month.