Emergency Rule In Pakistan Will Continue
ISLAMABAD, Pakistan- President Gen. Pervez Musharraf’s government dismissed a last-ditch U.S. call to end emergency rule, leaving the Bush administration with limited options Sunday in steering its nuclear-armed ally back toward democracy.
Militant gains have raised U.S. concerns about Pakistan’s ability to combat militancy and flush out remnants of al-Qaida and the Taliban believed to be sheltering in the country’s rugged northwestern tribal areas.
Pakistani army helicopter gunships strafed militant positions in the northwest on Sunday, hitting a valley where fighters loyal to a pro- Taliban cleric have been battling security forces for months, the army said.
Soldiers also fired artillery and mortar shells at militants in Swat, inflicting “many casualties,” the army said. It did not offer any specific casualty figures.
Fighting in Swat, a former tourist destination about 100 miles northwest of Islamabad, has turned parts of the region into a no-go zone for journalists, and the army claims could not be independently verified. The rebels could not be reached comment.
Probably because they’re busy dying.
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