Battle kills 5 as Taliban move beyond stronghold

[Coventina]

Source: Associated Press

PESHAWAR, Pakistan (AP) — Police in Pakistan say at least five people have been killed in a gunbattle with Taliban militants trying to expand their stronghold in the Swat valley.

The clash took place overnight in Buner, a previously peaceful district to the southeast of Swat.

According to Zakir Khan, a police official in Buner's Pir Baba area, a group of Taliban militants crossed into a mountainous area of Buner late Monday.

Khan said armed tribesmen and police confronted them, and three officers and two tribesmen were killed. He estimated that more than a dozen militants also died.



Read more: http://www.google.com/hostednews/ap/article/ALeqM5hkiMxbHNH0BqgpWA2ZG6VD6wVTmAD97E3CH81

[ConcernedCanuk]

1. Makes me ponder - once the USA/CIA targets an area with drones, Taliban is gonna move on, right?

.
.
.

Taliban are survivors, they ain't stupid - so in effect,

the USA is INCREASING the Taliban's territory by forcing them to move elsewhere

Time to talk for fecks sake

If that don't work, then get the frickin USA outta there and let them fight each other . .

seemed to me the area was MORE stable before the USA stuck their Imperial Nose in there . .

Iraq was stable too methinks . . .

hmmmmm

. . :freak: . .

[hack89]

2. Forcing them to move is what they want

they are more vulnerable to detection, surveillance, betrayal, etc if they are force out of their safe areas. Also if they spread out, they have more tribes to piss off - which means more fighting and betrayal. I don't think this is good for the Taliban - there are a lot of warrior tribes in the area that are more than capable of taking on the Taliban. If Taliban violence also drives those tribes to cooperate with the Pakistani government or CIA things could get even worse for the Taliban.