PAKISTAN CRIRIS

500,000 Civilians Flee Swat Valley

Exodus after Taliban takes control of Mingora.

The Taliban seizure of Mingora—the main town in Pakistan’s Swat Valley—is sparking the mass exodus of half a million people. On the heels of a deteriorating truce between the Pakistani government and the Taliban, the black-turbaned militants seized Mingora and are now roaming the city's streets, patrolling rooftops, and causing general hysteria. Civilians are packing buses to flee the region. Pakistani President Asif Ali Zardari is preparing to meet with President Obama in Washington this week, when they will likely discuss the Taliban’s now almost full control of the Swat Valley and the country’s failed truce with the militia. Said a Taliban spokesman: “Everything will be OK once our rulers stop bowing before America.”