Pakistan steps up fight against Taliban
Pearl Karamitros
Issue date: 5/13/09 Section: News
Pakistan's army is under- equipped to face thousands of Taliban extremists in the northwestern valley.
Nevertheless, Pakistan is not discouraged from declaring that action will be taken against these extremists who have been terrorizing the nation by seizing towns, planting makeshift bombs made from pressure cookers and forcing children to be suicide bombers.
Pakistan's army made a vow Friday to eliminate their enemy.
Most civilians have quickened their escape from the Swat Valley and neighboring districts as Pakistani Air Force jets roared overhead and gun battles raged.
The U.N. and Pakistani officials predict one million refugees will soon flood the chaotic Pakistan-Afghanistan border.
A formal announcement came Friday from the Pakistani Army confirming that an offensive is in operation.
"The army is now engaged in a full-scale operation to eliminate the militants, miscreants, and anti-state elements from Swat," said Major General Athar Abbas, Chief Army Spokesman.
"They [Taliban militants] are on the run and trying to block the exodus of civilians from the area."
U.S. officials support this move as the Taliban's recent advance to within 60 miles of capital Islamabad raised alarm.
The Obama Administration describes these militants as a threat to U.S. chances of destroying al-Qaida and to winning the war against their insurgent allies in neighboring Afghanistan.
The militants are clearly a threat to nuclear-armed Pakistan as well.
The ability and resolve of the Pakistani government to sustain the level of intense counterinsurgency warfare necessary is doubtful, especially since extremists' rhetoric resonates widely in Pakistan, a Muslim nation suspicious of U.S. goals in the region.
Abbas is seeking to remove the perception that the military is ill-trained by reiterating that they have learned a lot through the past eight years of fighting along the border.
However, he did indeed say that they would need helicopters, surveillance drones and night-vision equipment.
Nevertheless, Pakistan is not discouraged from declaring that action will be taken against these extremists who have been terrorizing the nation by seizing towns, planting makeshift bombs made from pressure cookers and forcing children to be suicide bombers.
Pakistan's army made a vow Friday to eliminate their enemy.
Most civilians have quickened their escape from the Swat Valley and neighboring districts as Pakistani Air Force jets roared overhead and gun battles raged.
The U.N. and Pakistani officials predict one million refugees will soon flood the chaotic Pakistan-Afghanistan border.
A formal announcement came Friday from the Pakistani Army confirming that an offensive is in operation.
"The army is now engaged in a full-scale operation to eliminate the militants, miscreants, and anti-state elements from Swat," said Major General Athar Abbas, Chief Army Spokesman.
"They [Taliban militants] are on the run and trying to block the exodus of civilians from the area."
U.S. officials support this move as the Taliban's recent advance to within 60 miles of capital Islamabad raised alarm.
The Obama Administration describes these militants as a threat to U.S. chances of destroying al-Qaida and to winning the war against their insurgent allies in neighboring Afghanistan.
The militants are clearly a threat to nuclear-armed Pakistan as well.
The ability and resolve of the Pakistani government to sustain the level of intense counterinsurgency warfare necessary is doubtful, especially since extremists' rhetoric resonates widely in Pakistan, a Muslim nation suspicious of U.S. goals in the region.
Abbas is seeking to remove the perception that the military is ill-trained by reiterating that they have learned a lot through the past eight years of fighting along the border.
However, he did indeed say that they would need helicopters, surveillance drones and night-vision equipment.
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