According to reports, "Pakistani soldiers entered the Taliban headquarters in South Waziristan on Friday, as the army went on the offensive in South Waziristan, a lawless ethnic Pashtun region on the Afghan border." Sources said the army was "aiming to root out Pakistani Taliban militants behind a wave of violence in urban areas."
Pakistani military officials said security forces had entered a stronghold and "a large part of the town has been cleared," referring it as the "base headquarters of terrorists."
The Taliban...
Analysts said "many militants appeared to have melted away, perhaps into neighbouring North Wazirstan where allied militant factions are based, from where they could strike back."
A source of mine said the scene throughout much of the region is chaos: "all shooter, all the time right now," he told me.
I asked him where he saw the only nuclear weapon-armed Islamic nation going in the next few years (considering things have only been getting progressively worse there). His take was that the current leader, Asif Ali Zardari, will fall and be replaced by General Ashfaq Parvez Kayani - current chief of army staff of the Pakistan army - as the nation's next dictator. "[There will be] military rule and stability - al Qaeda and Taliban [will be] status quo."
Pakistan's next...leader?
As previously noted, there's a very good reason why we have to keep attuned to what happens in Pakistan and neighboring countries. While there's every reason to support whatever slivers of democracy might exist there, the most important aspect of our interest in Pakistan boils down to two words: nuclear weapons. A stable Pakistan is a Pakistan less likely to have its nukes end up in the hands of terrorists or controlled by an extremist regime.
Watch developments in Pakistan like your life depends on it. For many people, it very well could...
Why Pakistan warrants so much attention...
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