Pakistan's Deal with the Devil: THE TALIBAN AT THE GATES OF PESHAWAR

Pakistan's Deal with the Devil: THE TALIBAN AT THE GATES OF PESHAWAR

By Walter Mayr

The Pakistani army has been going after the Taliban, but only half-heartedly.

The radical Islamic militants who fled across the border found everything they needed for a new beginning -- brothers in arms from the time when they were allied against the Soviet regime in Afghanistan, a large supply of madrasa students who were now without jobs and a small group of "Maliks," tribal elders who were paid for their loyalty to the military regime of General Pervez Musharraf. The Taliban cut into the traditional structures of Pashtun society like a sharp axe into soft wood.

http://www.newageislam.com/pakistan-s-deal-with-the-devil--the-taliban-at-the-gates-of-peshawar/war-on-terror/d/223