Posted on 04/26/2009 8:26:21 AM PDT by NormsRevenge
ISLAMABAD – Pakistan launched an operation against militants Sunday in a district covered by a government-backed peace deal, threatening the survival of a pact that raised U.S. concerns about the country's willingness to confront the insurgents.
A top government official insisted the deal remained "intact" and denied American pressure prompted the offensive, while another warned that the Taliban in a valley that was the focus of the deal must disarm or "face action."
A military statement said the offensive in Lower Dir had already killed "scores" of militants, including a commander, and left at least one paramilitary soldier dead. It said the operation was launched at the request of the provincial government and local residents, but did not give details of exactly what it entailed or how many troops were involved.
(Excerpt) Read more at news.yahoo.com ...
A Pakistani man evacuates Buner district of the troubled Swat valley on April 24. A bomb killed four children on Saturday in a restive part of northwest Pakistan which the government has put under Islamic law as part of a shaky peace deal with the Taliban, police said. (AFP/Tariq Mahmood)
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Pakistani Taliban fighters gesture towards the camera before leaving Buner, about 100 km (60 miles) northwest of Islamabad April 24, 2009. A Pakistani Taliban commander withdrew his fighters from a key northwestern valley on Friday, amid growing alarm in the United States that the Taliban were creeping closer to the capital of nuclear-armed Pakistan. REUTERS/Stringer (PAKISTAN CONFLICT POLITICS IMAGE OF THE DAY TOP PICTURE)
Pakistan, as well as other countries, need to stand up and defend themselves. If they won’t back the Taliban down, then they need to realize what they are in for. If the Taliban go into India, Indians need to fight them. We can no longer send our young men and women over there to die. I’m tired of having to defend those that won’t defend themselves. Enough is enough. I realize Pakistan has nukes but if things get carried away, take the nukes out and if the Taliban becomes a problem to us again, take them out also but from the air. We need to totally get out of the Middle East and take care of our own country. We are breaking our country and hurting our own future.
Those who would do harm to the U.S. must be rooted out and destroyed.
I agree but only if they attack us. We can’t defend the whole world with our children and dollars.
Thanks!
snip from the article
“Helicopter gunships are pounding militants’ positions in the hills,” said Ali Shah, a grocer in Timergara, the main town of Lower Dir district. “There has been intense fighting. A curfew has been imposed. We are now confined to our houses.”
The militants, with Swat under their control, have been trying to extend their foothold into Dir, where they had faced stiff resistance earlier from local people. Their latest advances have given them control of about 11 per cent of the country.
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