Positive news (for a change) from Pakistan:
MINGORA, Pakistan – The Pakistani army has driven Islamic militants from all the towns in a scenic northern valley and killed 290 of the followers of a pro-Taliban cleric who has called for a holy war against the government, a general said Saturday
The militants, followers of firebrand preacher Maulana Fazlullah, had taken control of at least eight towns in the Swat valley since July, scattering outgunned police and erecting “Taliban station” signboards outside former police stations.
Officials accuse them of imposing a reign of terror, shuttering schools for girls and beheading locals who opposed them. Their seizure of the region demonstrated the government’s feeble control in Pakistan’s remote areas.
The “government’s feeble control in Pakistan’s remote areas” is why Musharraf’s army is going to have to initiate some sort of counterinsurgency operation in order to retake the country bit by bit.
Next door, in Afghanistan, the Taliban have made the mistake of massing their forces in a single location:
LASHKAR GAH, Afghanistan (Reuters) – Afghan, British and U.S. troops were fighting in a major operation on Saturday to capture the Taliban’s biggest stronghold in Afghanistan.
Musa Qala in the southern province of Helmand is the only sizeable Afghan town controlled by the Taliban. Capturing Musa Qala would give Afghan government and foreign troops a big boost as the harsh winter and perennial lull in fighting sets in.
U.S. troops were taken close to the town by helicopter on Friday to begin the attack as British troops moved in by land.
“We are now involved in an advance that is effectively kicking the door in to Musa Qala,” said Lieutenant Colonel Richard Eaton, British forces’ spokesman in Helmand.
Hooah! Now that’s NATO terminology I can understand. (it’s a company, not a coy, dammint…)
Gratuitous: Looked for the “Taliban on the Run” youtube video, but I couldn’t find it. This one will have to do.
The Pak may well indeed be a chess move the DEFSEC has under-played. That said, will it come back to haunt the US? U BET! With this post I figure the boomers are going deep and large on the poten…is it in play? We keep the moves close to the vest so to speak…
Scenic valley?
Who cares about the tourism aspect of where the Taliban live. As a journalist I have to wonder at what these reporters are thinking when they write their copy.