Pakistani Vigilantes Strike at Taliban

As Pakistan’s overtaxed military and police forces wage a desperate battle against the Taliban, vigilantes are striking back at the militants on their own, the New York Times reports. Last August, citizens in a quiet farming valley hunted down and killed the Taliban fighters who murdered six policemen, lining up the bodies like trophies and capturing their work on video.

With their numbers dwindling, Pakistani police are encouraging the vigilantes, arming the 15,000 unpaid “special police.” “There is no other way,” explained one official, saying traditional military force would push people to “turn against the government.” The vigilantes hope to stave off civil war, which could displace thousands. “The people are more motivated than the police,” said a police chief.
(More Pakistan stories.)