Exploiting the chaos in Pakistan
Updated on 07 November 2007
A few hours' drive from Islamabad, Islamic militants in the Swat valley are taking on government forces.
While protesters in Pakistan's cities call on President Musharraf to restore democracy, in the tribal hinterlands bordering Afghanistan his enemies have a different agenda and are capitalising on the chaos in government.
Just a few hours' drive northwest of the capital, the Swat valley - once a picturesque tourist destination - is now the scene of an armed uprising as Islamist militants led by a pro-Taliban cleric take on government forces.
In the past two weeks more than 180 have died and thousands have fled their homes. The militants' black and white jihadi flag flies over more and more villages as the Pakistani army soldiers - reluctant to fight their fellow countrymen - appear powerless to halt their advance.
