It’s inevitable.
Pakistan’s Taliban seized control of another district in the country’s northwest just 70 miles from the capital after consolidating their hold on the Swat Valley, according to local government officials and residents.
The latest Taliban advance into the Buner district has spurred fears that a controversial peace accord, which allows the militants to enforce sharia law in Swat, has emboldened them to expand their influence.
Militants have been moving into Buner since the Swat peace deal was signed with the government in February. But starting Tuesday night they seized control of the entire district, which has a population of more than one million people, local government officials and residents said. Heavily armed militants, streaming in from neighboring Swat, occupied government offices and set up their own checkposts. Terrified residents fled their homes.
Dozens of hooded fighters carrying rocket launchers and machine guns ransacked the offices of international aid and development agencies working in the district and took away their vehicles. Some employees of the agencies were also briefly taken hostage. The militants set up their headquarters in the town of Buner after driving out government officials.
……The Taliban have banned music and television and stopped women from entering a popular shrine of a Muslim saint. They are also using mosques to invite local youth to join them.
A Taliban commander said Islamic sharia courts would soon be established in the Buner district as they have already been in Swat. Mohammad Khalil said the main objective was to end the “sense of deprivation” among locals and provide speedy justice to the people.
Oh yeah, they’ll end the “deprivation” by depriving the populace of their freedom. Just wait until the daily parade of floggings, beheadings, and stonings begin.
The Taliban is capitalizing on the success of slaughtering their way through the Swat Valley.
From a previous post:
The truth is that Pakistan not only won’t but can’t elliminate terrorist organizations on their soil. They won’t crack down because they are afraid of a constituency of muslim terrorists who can and would wreak havok across the country.
The Inter-Service Intelligence (ISI) has Taliban moles on its payroll, and cells run back across the Afghan border after re-grouping, thanks to the Pakistan regime. Any resurgence of the Taliban in Afghanistan can be directly attributed to terrorist groups operating carte blanche in Pakistan; abetted by a large portion of the Pakistani government, Army, and ISI.
We’ll see how long it takes before Pakistan officially becomes a Taliban-run state.