Word: swatting
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...course of my reporting on Pakistan, I hear conspiracy theories all the time: that the Pakistani Taliban fighting in Swat are funded by Indian intelligence; that the Americans are assisting the Taliban in Afghanistan to justify and secure a Central Asian foothold against China; and the old chestnut that Israel's Mossad and the CIA were behind the 9/11 attacks on the U.S. While no press in any country is without flaw or bias, I count on fellow journalists everywhere to be more enlightened and sensible than average folk. But in Pakistan's case, sections of the media are reinforcing...
...among the vast stretches of land belonging to the Tarakais, where the family grows sugarcane, wheat, corn and very lucrative quantities of tobacco. The family also operates power projects and recently acquired the Pakistan franchise for Gloria Jean's, a café chain. It owns a tire factory in Swat's main town of Mingora, but like much else in the valley, it was seized by the Taliban. In recent years, Liaqat Tarakai has slowly pushed the family into the political arena. "We have no need of government help," he proudly declares. "We are self-sufficient." (See pictures of Pakistan...
...even here, refugees are facing difficulties seen elsewhere in the northwest. Though the camp tents are well protected against heat and even have fans inside, daytime temperatures nudge past the 100? mark. The people of Buner and Swat - who are more accustomed to cool mountain air - are suffering from dehydration, skin rashes, diarrhea and the mounting threat of disease. Dust has caused respiratory infections, and there are widespread psychiatric problems, doctors visiting the camps report. Aman's mother was one of 66,000 pregnant woman estimated by the U.N. to be among the displaced. A few tragically lost their babies...
...Fears have also been growing over the fate of up to 20,000 civilians trapped in Mingora, Swat's main town, as the army and the Taliban continue to battle each other street by street. In recent days, the army has claimed a flurry of successes: recapturing key intersections in Mingora, retaking Pakistan's only ski resort at Malam Jabba (which was being used by the Taliban as a training camp and logistics base) and clearing the former militant stronghold of Matta. Militants are now reportedly retreating from Mingora to Kabal. The army has made a push toward Kabal...
...girls' school built by the Tarakais, recently arrived refugees from Swat describe the Taliban's preparations for the military offensive. (Schools across the North-West Frontier Province have closed for six months; their buildings are being used to house refugees.) "The Taliban took over the food shops and changed the locks," says Mohammad Ali, 30, who used to sell clothes in Mingora's main bazaar. "They occupied a high school to make their base there. In the town there was a stock of wheat flour that had arrived for us from the government of Punjab. The Taliban took that over...