Where the hell is the leftwing outrage?
TALIBAN militants are using civilians in Swat Valley towns as human shields and planting mines in girls’ schools across Buner, say residents and the Pakistani military.
As intense fighting continued across Pakistan’s North West Frontier Province, thousands of civilians fled the Swat Valley and Buner yesterday, taking advantage of a brief relaxation in military-imposed curfews.The former tourist region of Swat has experienced the deadliest fighting between militants and the military since February, when a peace deal was struck to end the Taliban’s 18-month campaign for imposition of sharia law.
At least 35 militants had died in fighting, as had nine Pakistani soldiers, the military reported. About 36 civilians have been killed in crossfire or by army snipers for breaching curfew.
Security officials said Taliban fighters had begun entering houses in Swat’s main town, Mingora, and were using residents as human shields. The Government insists no formal army operation has begun in Swat, the stronghold of Taliban in the NWFP, and that all military action was retaliatory. But in Buner district, where the military’s Operation Black Thunder is in its second week, the civilian toll is mounting fast.
http://www.theaustralian.news.com.au/story/0,25197,25444465-2703,00.html
Pakistan’s safehaven for the Taliban has come back to bite them in the ass. Not content with being handed the Swat valley, the Taliban wants the rest of Pakistan.
Good luck Asif Ali Zardari. You’ll need it.