Source: AP

Pakistan commandos dropped into Taliban stronghold
By NAHAL TOOSI, Associated Press Writer -1 hr 40 mins ago

MARDAN, Pakistan – Helicopters dropped Pakistani commandos into a Taliban stronghold in the Swat Valley on Tuesday, pressing ahead with an offensive the army said had killed more than 750 militants and driven around 800,000 people from their homes.

Despite claims of success in an operation that began after heavy U.S. pressure, the army said it had yet to start operations in the region's main town of Swat, where witnesses say Taliban insurgents are in control and preparing for what could be bloody door-to-door fighting.

Farther south, a suspected U.S. missile attack flattened a house and killed at least eight people in another militant bastion near the Afghan border, officials said, in the latest in a series of attacks that have strained U.S. and Pakistani ties.

Choppers placed troops on "search and destroy" missions in the remote Piochar area in the upper reaches of the Swat Valley, army spokesman Maj. Gen. Athar Abbas said. Officials have identified Piochar as the rear-base of an estimated 4,000 Taliban militants. It is seen as a possible hiding place of Swat Taliban chief Maulana Fazlullah.

Read more: http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20090512/ap_on_re_as/as_pakistan

the Swat Valley?

because I'm wondering if the military will be able to discern between the taliban and the civilians. I do believe they are seriously going after the taliban after years of lip service but will only keep the good will of the civilian population if casualties are kept to a bare minimum.

That's the big hurdle with wars like this, where your enemy isn't a regimented military separate from the civilian population, but instead a popular front made up of that civilian population.

There's no way to filter it so that you ONLY get Taliban fighters. When the foreign troops come to town, everyone will be a "Taliban fighter"

751 militants killed, 29 troops martyred in operation: ISPR

Tuesday May 12, 2009 (1724 PST)

RAWALPINDI: Director General Inter Services Public Relations (ISPR) Maj. General Athar Abbas Tuesday said 751 militants have so far been killed while 29 security men martyred and 77 others injured in operation Raah-e-Haq underway in Swat and other parts of Malakand.

Giving updates of the ongoing operation, DG ISPR said the security forces have accomplished significant achievements, adding the images and videos of the dead militants will be released tomorrow.

He said today Pakistan army’s heliborne troops landed in Peochar, a key Taliban stronghold in the northwest district of Swat. Militants’ hideouts were destroyed in Baba Ziarat area and some arrests were also made, he told the reports.

Four security personnel lost their lives in militants’ attack on Kanju Police Station and Kilay while 4 militants were killed in Imam Dheri.

Maj. Gen. Athar Abbas said the army is setting up hospitals and camps for the IDPs coming from the battle zones and so far 1.3 million people have migrated. In this connection, services of NADRA are being used, he added.

<more>

http://www.paktribune.com/news/index.php?id=214793

Eyewitness: Trapped in Mingora

Fighting in the Swat valley between the Pakistani army and Taleban militants has almost completely destroyed the communications network and links with the rest of the country.

Tens of thousands of people have fled the area, but there are some who have not managed to escape.

The BBC's Urdu Service has been able to get in contact with one such person, who described the situation in the city of Mingora.

He agreed to speak on condition of anonymity.

The Taleban are still patrolling Mingora, and from where I am based, I can only see the army troops at the emerald mines.

The sound of firing can be heard intermittently in various areas of Mingora.

<more>

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/south_asia/8045732.stm

Bet this is how they hope congre$$ see$ it



http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MVor2Xm8qg0&feature=related



pak military and sectarians spending "political capital" in order to keep the monthly checks flowing.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bPXVGQnJm0w&feature=related
Pak military taking a page from Apocalypse Now are they ?

for the current operation.



Congress will need to pony up mo dough fo da show to go on.

http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/India-thinks-Pak-N-sites-already-in-radical-hands-Report/articleshow/4537037.cms

Was the blast an act of revenge bc the car dealer refused to sell his stock at a religious discount or


is eating cream against the law ?


unbelievable.

Lets give em more aid

A Taleban victory in Pakistan will threaten India, which has already been under attack by the same sort of Islamic radicals that made up the Taleban.

We wouldn't be in this mess had Bush finished the job at Tora Bora, instead of letting bin Laden escape. Had bin Laden been captured or killed at Tora Bora, the war would have been over, the Taleban would have been defeated, and Bush would not have the excuse to invade Iraq.

Taliban reiterated; " There are no civilians in jihad"