Pakistan pushes more attacks against Taliban, condemns use of human shields
The Pakistani military pressed its multipronged assault on three Taliban-held districts northwest of the capital, Islamabad, on Saturday, claiming significant gains but also blaming militants for endangering noncombatants by firing indiscriminately and basing themselves in civilian homes.Calling attention the the Taliban war crimes in its use of human shields is important. The US needs to do more of that in Afghanistan, since the human shields are an important part of Taliban tactics used to cut the use of air attacks.As terrified people continued to flee the fighting, the outskirts of the conflict areas are facing a critical need for more shelter and supplies. The office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees has registered more than 120,000 residents displaced from the three contested districts — Swat, Buner and Dir — and surrounding areas, and warns that several hundred thousand more are likely to leave as well. For the moment, most people are able to find their own shelter, renting space or moving in with extended families in urban areas, the agency said, but such options are rapidly diminishing.
Military statements issued Saturday reported 15 militants killed in helicopter attacks in the Swat Valley district capital, Mingora, and as many as 40 militants killed in other parts of the district, news agencies said. Those claims — and the military’s overall count of more than 140 slain insurgents — are impossible to verify independently, given that aid agencies and journalists are barred from the conflict areas.
A provincial official, Iftikhar Hussain, accused the Taliban of causing civilian deaths. “The militants are using the civilian population as a human shield, and they have dug trenches in civilian areas,” Mr. Hussain told reporters at a news conference in Peshawar.
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The claims of Taliban kills seems modest for the size of the operation and the munitions used. The reports still do not suggest how close the army is to retaking the territory. That probably means they are not close.
As my mother so often quotes, "humanity is a blight on the face of the earth", and this is so keenly exemplified in the taliban, in particular and in their practice of human shielding. They are thugs.
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