Paks Admit Swat Lost

The Daily Times of Pakistan reports that officials admit that they've lost control of the Swat district along the north west frontier [soon to be renamed Afghania] to the Taliban.

The NWFP [Northwest Frontier Province] government has lost its writ in the volatile Swat valley, the ruling ANP [secular Awami National Party] admitted in the Senate on Monday. ANP senators Haji Adeel and Ilyas Bilour said the insurgency was spilling over to the rest of the country and would “reach Islamabad sooner than Lahore”. Bilour said Taliban had demolished more than 300 schools in the region once considered liberal. Senator Razina Alam said more than 80,000 children could not go to school and 8,000 teachers had lost their jobs. Jamat-e-Islami Senator Prof Muhammad Ibrahim criticised the military saying it too had lost its writ in Swat. “How can Taliban demolish schools and behead civilians during curfew?” he asked.