Pakistani prime minister: No more deals with the Taliban

by: Salaam

Fri May 08, 2009 at 22:42:06 PM EDT

Juan Cole says the mass displacement of the local population is deliberate:

Apparently what is happening is that the Pakistani army is ordering the civilian population out of Swat and Buner, in hopes of having a clear shot at the Taliban, who thereby would be deprived of civilian cover. In turn the latter are trying to close the roads out, to keep the civilians inside so as to use them as human shields or as anonymous throngs into which they can melt where they are defeated by the army.