Pakistan orders 'elimination' of terrorist

Reuters:

Pakistan's government ordered the army to eliminate militants on Thursday, setting the stage for a major offensive against Taliban fighters battling security forces in a northwestern valley.

The government's handling of the Swat valley has become a test of its resolve to fight a growing Taliban insurgency that has alarmed the United States.

President Asif Ali Zardari, in Washington for talks, assured U.S. President Barack Obama on Wednesday of Islamabad's commitment to defeating al Qaeda and its allies.

Security forces used jets and helicopters to pound Taliban positions in Swat, 130 km (80 miles) from Islamabad, as thousands of civilians took advantage of a break in a curfew to flee.

With hundreds of thousand of people already displaced by fighting, aid groups said the new exodus of tens of thousands was intensifying a humanitarian crisis.

Prime Minister Yusuf Raza Gilani said in a televised address the militants were trying to hold the country hostage at gunpoint.

"Decisive steps have to be taken," Gilani said.

"In order to restore honor and dignity of our homeland and to protect the people, the armed forces have been called in to eliminate the militants and terrorists."

Gilani did not announce the launching of an offensive but said the government would not bow before terrorists and would force them to lay down their arms.

Reinforcements have been arriving in Swat as a peace pact collapsed. On Wednesday, soldiers launched assaults in the outskirts of the region's main town of Mingora, where the Taliban have occupied important buildings.

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The good news for the government is that the refugees are fleeing toward government held positions and not Taliban held positions. They are voting with their feet against the Taliban religious bigots.

However the Pakistan army is trying to eliminate insurgents with major combat operations instead of counterinsurgency warfare. If they were using the latter there would be no need for the refugees leaving because the troops would be protecting the people. They would also be destroying more of the enemy by cutting off their movement to contact. This current operation is looking a lot like whack a mole. That means killing a few and chasing the others away to fight another day.