PrintNovember 1, 2007
Pakistan Battles Taliban
More than 70 "militants" were killed when Pakistani military forces attacked the supporters of a radical cleric in the Northwest Frontier Province district of Swat:
The militants in the northwest district of Swat attacked law-enforcement posts before dawn Thursday, and security forces responded with fire from mortars, small arms and helicopter gunships.The terrorists will not go quietly. They are fighting back the only way they can - through suicide attacks.
"According to the information I have from police and Frontier Constabulary, between 60 to 70 miscreants were killed in Swat's areas of Khawaza Khela today," army spokesman Maj. Gen. Waheed Arshad said.
The suicide bombing on the Pakistan Air Force bus occurred at around 7 a.m. near an air base in Sargodha, about 125 miles south of Islamabad, air force spokesman Sarfraz Ahmed said. All the dead were air force employees, said Sahid Malik, an official at the hospital treating the victims.
But the military is apparently really starting to take the fight directly to the Taliban by attacking them in their safe havens and hideouts in the NWFP. This has caused many to flee into Afghanistan where, as we have found out, they are quickly surrounded and dealt with by American and Afghan forces.
But Musharraf's campaign against the militants is not popular with everyone - especially the conservative religious parties that still make up a lion's share of his support. But as long as the Pakistani army continues to have success, the President should have the support of a majority of the people who are tired of the terrorists in their midst and wish the government to deal with them.
