Informed Comment Homepage

Thoughts on the Middle East, History and Religion

Header Right

  • Featured
  • US politics
  • Middle East
  • Environment
  • US Foreign Policy
  • Energy
  • Economy
  • Politics
  • About
  • Archives
  • Submissions

© 2025 Informed Comment

  • Skip to content
  • Skip to primary sidebar
Uncategorized
Pakistani Army Poised to Invade Mingora; Husain: Taliban like Borg

Pakistani Army Poised to Invade Mingora; Husain: Taliban like Borg

Juan Cole 05/16/2009

Tweet
Share
Reddit
Email

The Pakistani army is preparing to invade and reduce the city of Mingora (pop. 200,000), the largest city in the Swat valley.

During the course of the current military campaign, which pits 15,000 infantry of the regular army against 4,000 Pushtun fundamentalist irregulars, the Pakistani army claims to have killed 800 ‘Pakistani Taliban.’

During the course of the recent fighting, a million Pakistanis have now been displaced by the fighting since last fall.

Aljazeera English reports on the vastness and difficulties of the internally displaced.

McClatchy sees signs that this time the Taliban might stand and fight, rather than melting away guerrilla style.

Irfan Husain likens the Taliban to the emotionless Borg androids of Star Trek.

Aljazeera English reports on the Pakistani campaign, and on the way in which the Taliban are still in control of distant villages.

Aljazeera English reports on the Pakistani military campaign in the Swat valley, paying special attention to the officers’ connections in the North-West Frontier Province.

The documentary “Made in Pakistan” attempts to shed light on the situation in that country by following 4 Pakistanis. This is the trailer:

End/ (Not Continued)

Filed Under: Uncategorized

About the Author

Juan Cole is the founder and chief editor of Informed Comment. He is Richard P. Mitchell Professor of History at the University of Michigan He is author of, among many other books, Muhammad: Prophet of Peace amid the Clash of Empires and The Rubaiyat of Omar Khayyam. Follow him on Twitter at @jricole or the Informed Comment Facebook Page

Primary Sidebar

Support Independent Journalism

Click here to donate via PayPal.

Personal checks should be made out to Juan Cole and sent to me at:

Juan Cole
P. O. Box 4218,
Ann Arbor, MI 48104-2548
USA
(Remember, make the checks out to “Juan Cole” or they can’t be cashed)

STAY INFORMED

Join our newsletter to have sharp analysis delivered to your inbox every day.
Warning! Social media will not reliably deliver Informed Comment to you. They are shadowbanning news sites, especially if "controversial."
To see new IC posts, please sign up for our email Newsletter.

Social Media

Bluesky | Instagram

Popular

  • Top Things You Still Think You Know About Iran that are Not True
  • Why Trump Bombed Iran: Preserving US and Israeli Nuclear Supremacy in the Middle East
  • The Current Iran War will Likely end Soon, but the Arms Race will Heat Up
  • Trump's contravention of the 2015 Iran Nuclear Deal Led to Israel-Iran Escalation
  • Colonial Logic, not Jewish Wisdom Guides Israel's Wars

Gaza Yet Stands


Juan Cole's New Ebook at Amazon. Click Here to Buy
__________________________

Muhammad: Prophet of Peace amid the Clash of Empires



Click here to Buy Muhammad: Prophet of Peace amid the Clash of Empires.

The Rubaiyat of Omar Khayyam


Click here to Buy The Rubaiyat.
Sign up for our newsletter

Informed Comment © 2025 All Rights Reserved