Clinton Aims to Save Pakistan With Text Donations

(AP) - Hillary Clinton will detail plans for US humanitarian aid to Pakistan later today, as part of the administration's new strategy for countering the appeal of Taliban militants in the nuclear-armed country. An administration official said the aid package would amount to about $100 million to help Pakistani refugees who have fled fighting in the Swat Valley and are living in squalid tent cities. More»

Refugee crisis mounts as fighting ramps up

(NEWSER) - Pakistani soldiers descended on a Taliban stronghold in Swat Valley today to “search and destroy,” a military spokesman tells Reuters. Ground troops were also moving toward the remote northwest region as the military ramps up its offensive against insurgents there. Officials say 751 of the vastly outnumbered militants and 29 soldiers have died; meanwhile, as many as 800,000 civilians have fled. More»

Military's paltry victory gives fighters opening to reclaim stronghold

(NEWSER) - Pakistan is crowing over its victories against militants in the Swat Valley, but the Taliban has simply retreated to fight another day, Jane Perlez and Pir Zubair Shah write in the New York Times. Pakistan, which only controls roads and urban centers, hasn't even killed one Taliban leader. "Most of the Taliban shaved their beards, and they are living here with their families" in refugee camps, a local mayor said. More»

Curfew curbs residents' flight in 'war of country's survival'

(NEWSER) - Pakistani troops and warplanes killed at least 55 Taliban militants today in what Prime Minister Raza Gilani is calling a "war of the country's survival," the AP reports. Fighting centered in the northwestern Swat Valley, where a curfew prevented residents from fleeing and the main town has only three doctors left, reports Reuters. “We are in pain," said one tearful civilian. "We are helpless and homeless." More»

Military bombards densely populated areas; UN warns of crisis

(NEWSER) - Refugees continue to flee the Swat Valley in Pakistan, reports the Guardian, where government forces battling resurgent Taliban militants have been conducting airstrikes in heavily populated areas. The government is preparing for up to 500,000 refugees in what the UN warns is becoming a humanitarian crisis. The Washington Post reports from a camp outside Islamabad, where refugees told of violence under the Taliban and erratic behavior by the government and military. More»