After days of sporadic fighting, intermixed with beheadings and ceasefires, the Pakistani military has again called for a halt in fighting with the Taliban in the settle district of Swat. Meanwhile, the Pakistani government is bragging about the number of "militants" (read: Taliban) it killed in Swat over the past few days:
"The reports which I have from the police and Frontier Corps people who were doing this law enforcement action was about 50-60 militants died yesterday," Army spokesman Major-General Waheed Arshad said.
What Major-General Arshad fails to tell you is the number of Pakistani troops killed in the fighting. While there is no official count, a casual scan of the news will provide it. The Pakistanis have taken casualties equal to that of the Taliban:
October 25: 30 Pakistani soldiers killed in suicide bomb attack on a convoy.
October 26: 7 Pakistani soldiers captured and beheaded.
October 28: 10 Pakistani soldiers killed in fighting.
Forty-seven Pakistani soldiers were killed in four days of on and off fighting in Swat. These are numbers that makes U.S. casualties in Iraq seem like child's play. The high casualties encounter have demoralized the military and made military operations very unpopular in Pakistan.
Whether they want to recognize it or not, the Pakistani military and government is fighting an intense Taliban insurgency in the settled districts and the tribal areas of Northwest Frontier Province. Their solution has been half-hearted combat, followed up by "peace accords" which cede territory to the Taliban. If history is a good indicator, the government will again cave to the Taliban in Swat as it has in Bajaur, Mohmand, and North and South Waziristan.
