A map locating Pakistan's northwestern districts. Pakistani attack helicopters and war planes blasted suspected Taliban hideouts, stepping up a campaign to crush militants as aid workers warned against a worsening humanitarian crisis. (AFP/Graphic)
Posted on 05/07/2009 8:47:07 AM PDT by NormsRevenge
PESHAWAR, Pakistan (AFP) – Attack helicopters and war planes pounded suspected Taliban hideouts on Thursday as Pakistan vowed a decisive victory in the deadliest fighting to grip a northwest district in months.
Thousands of civilians streamed out of the Taliban stronghold and former tourist paradise of Swat on foot or crammed into cars, as aid workers warned that the humanitarian crisis was escalating in the area.
...
The military said nine soldiers died in the last 24 hours in Swat, including seven killed when militants ambushed troop reinforcements at the entry to Mingora, the main town in the northwest district fast emptying of residents.
It was one of the deadliest days for the military since government forces resumed offensives against the Taliban after they advanced further south towards the capital Islamabad, violating the terms of a February peace deal.
The deeply controversial agreement between the government and a pro-Taliban cleric to put three million people in a wide region of northwest Pakistan under sharia law was supposed to end a nearly two-year violent Taliban uprising.
Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani told lawmakers from Buner, Dir, Shangla and Swat, areas where the sharia law deal applied and dogged by the worst fighting, that "strong measures would be taken to restore peace and order".
Army chief of staff General Ashfaq Kayani vowed victory and said the army would deploy "requisite resources to ensure a decisive ascendancy over the militants" as the peace deal unravelled.
Pakistan is under US pressure to crush militants, who Washington has called the biggest terror threat to the West and US President Barack Obama has put the nuclear-armed Muslim country at the heart of the fight against Al-Qaeda.
(Excerpt) Read more at news.yahoo.com ...
A map locating Pakistan's northwestern districts. Pakistani attack helicopters and war planes blasted suspected Taliban hideouts, stepping up a campaign to crush militants as aid workers warned against a worsening humanitarian crisis. (AFP/Graphic)
Pakistan needs to kill the Taliban and Osama Bin Laden and all the terrorists in their country or else risk their country and their government collapsing and being taken over by the terrorists completely. Remember what they did to Afghanistan when they were in power there? They turned the whole country into a killing fields reminiscent of Southeast Asia after we left.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.