On the trail of Pakistan's Taliban

You —

IMO a VERY good article.


On the trail of Pakistan's Taliban


The authorities in Pakistan have often seemed in cahoots with home-grown terrorists. Not any more. Adrian Levy and Cathy Scott-Clark report from Islamabad and the border badlands as a new intelligence unit gets serious about tackling the bombers.


As the first reports of explosions at the Taj and Oberoi hotels in Mumbai reached Islamabad just after 9pm on November 26, Pakistan's counter-terrorism investigators twitched. Later that night, CCTV cameras inside Mumbai's Victoria railway station relayed footage of a blood-spattered concourse and the faces of some of the gunmen. The guests fleeing from the hotels told TV reporters that their assailants were speaking Urdu and were hunting down British and American passport holders. Almost immediately, over the border, the Pakistani investigators began pulling out files and photographs that accompanied the "Red Book" - their most-wanted list...


Read more @ The Guardian


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Beast — Sat, 10 Jan 2009 - 22:38

They're either using artistic license or there's a huge misunderstanding here:


The next day, we find a gift-wrapped rose addressed to us thrown over the wall of our heavily guarded compound. Tied to the stem is a message from the Swat Taliban. "Thinking about you," it says playfully. We had told no one where we would be staying, but they found us anyway - a demonstration of how pervasive is their grip, and how hard it is going to be for anyone who stands in their way, even with the resources the Sig has brought to the conflict.


You — Sat, 10 Jan 2009 - 22:51

What do you mean?


The bit I found chilling was:


Those who resist Baitullah Mehsud have been brutally dealt with - like the 600 elders who spoke out against him in 2005 and were, according to Pakistani journalist Ahmed Rashid, each sent a needle, black thread and 1,000 rupees with which to buy some cloth to stitch their own shrouds; all of them were then killed.


Beast — Sat, 10 Jan 2009 - 22:58

[quote=You]What do you mean?[/quote]


I don't see the Taliban doing something so cute.


Maybe some guy had a crush on a hotel resident or hotel maid and he threw the rose over the wall for her.


[quote=You]The bit I found chilling was:


Those who resist Baitullah Mehsud have been brutally dealt with - like the 600 elders who spoke out against him in 2005 and were, according to Pakistani journalist Ahmed Rashid, each sent a needle, black thread and 1,000 rupees with which to buy some cloth to stitch their own shrouds; all of them were then killed.


[/quote]


Yeah, and the book of reconstituted faces of suicide bombers.


:shock: < this smiley comes closest to expressing the yucky feeling


You — Sat, 10 Jan 2009 - 22:59

[quote=Beast][quote=You]What do you mean?[/quote]


I don't see the Taliban doing something so cute.


Maybe some guy had a crush on a hotel resident or hotel maid and he threw the rose over the wall for her.[/quote]


Could be. Or it could be some twisted mind games.


Dawud — Sat, 10 Jan 2009 - 23:27

[quote=You][quote=Beast][quote=You]What do you mean?[/quote]


I don't see the Taliban doing something so cute.


Maybe some guy had a crush on a hotel resident or hotel maid and he threw the rose over the wall for her.[/quote]


Could be. Or it could be some twisted mind games.

[/quote]

The Taliban have been watching too many Italian gangster films?