According to the Pakistani Daily Mail, "thousands" of Taliban beseiged a Swat police station and, despite Army intervention, captured 30 policemen. A prolonged battle in place that results in a Taliban victory is impressive enough, but by "thousands" of Taliban soldiers? The Pakistani army may well be unsuited for anti-guerrilla warfare, given its historic preoccupation with India, but a force of thousands would present a very large target. The assertion that the Pakistani army missed a target that large requires some explanation.
In a statement that, following two years of Pakistani government efforts to regain control, provides its own serious message, the report described Swat as "the
sprawling region effectively sealed off from the outside world."
Separately, the Taliban have also again closed the Afghan-Pak road through the Khyber Pass used to supply NATO forces in Afghanistan. This comes as the U.S. tries to improve ex-Soviet Central Asian cooperation to facilitate its supply route, amidst rumors that it is about to be kicked out of one base that it already has.
In a statement that, following two years of Pakistani government efforts to regain control, provides its own serious message, the report described Swat as "the
sprawling region effectively sealed off from the outside world."
Separately, the Taliban have also again closed the Afghan-Pak road through the Khyber Pass used to supply NATO forces in Afghanistan. This comes as the U.S. tries to improve ex-Soviet Central Asian cooperation to facilitate its supply route, amidst rumors that it is about to be kicked out of one base that it already has.
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