As the Taliban moved into the district of Buner in April after securing the peace agreement that humiliated the Paksitani government, Pakistani political and military leaders rushed to assure the world that there was no threat to Islamabad or Pakistan’s nuclear weapons. But Ahmed Rashid, the author over several authoritative books on the Taliban, describes what it is like to travel in Islamabad to meet the president. The city has taken on a siege mentality:
Islamabad and the city of Peshawar remain cities under siege, while Lahore, Rawalpindi, and Karachi are bracing for the next suicide attack. Only after intense international pressure did the Pakistani military decide to take on the Taliban in Swat and the neighboring districts of Buner, Dir, and Shangla. The military has been battling to retake control of these districts for more than five weeks, and government officials state the operation will be finished within days, despite the fact that much of the district has yet to be cleared. Yet no senior Taliban leaders have been killed or captured during the offensive. The Taliban have conducted what appears to be a tactical retreat into neighboring districts, some where they never maintained a presence. If the Pakistani Army fails to pursue the Taliban into these northern districts or the tribal areas, the short-term tactical success in Swat will be erased within the year.
