As always, life moves on. For five odd years Gen Pervez Musharraf kept feeding scraps, bits and pieces to his masters but never the main meal they were seeking. The demand was for the Taliban and al Qaeda leadership, for the dismantling of the Jihadi infrastructure. Somehow the delivery of these key demands would never materialise.

A mass movement suddenly popped up in Pakistan which drew enough support from the middle class to keep it alive and rolling for months even as the bulk of the masses kept away sensing that it really was establishment games that were being played out on the streets.

Eventually elections were held in Pakistan and Gen Musharraf was shown the door.

This has failed to resolve American headaches, however. The Taliban are resurgent not just in Afghanistan but in the troubled north-west and south-west regions of Pakistan. The NATO forces are badly extended in Afghanistan and at their wits end trying to hold onto territories that they are in control of – matters have reached a stage where it is commonly bandied about that the writ of the government does not even run outside Kabul.

A report issued Monday 8 December 2008 by the International Council on Security and Development (ICOS), an independent think-tank and research organisation based in Brazil that has researchers in the region, claims that the Taliban are "closing a noose" around the Afghan capital, Kabul, "establishing bases close to the city from which to launch attacks ... Using these bases, the Taliban and insurgent attacks in Kabul have increased dramatically".

Indeed, reports in the American media would have it that the fresh infusion of American troops expected sometime early next year will be dedicated to the districts immediately outside the capital city of Kabul.  

From being partners in the global war on terror the situation has now reached a stage where US drones are conducting surgical strikes inside the territory of Pakistan. It is not clear whether this is being done with tacit understanding of the Pakistani establishment – they are certainly protesting violation of sovereignty. Yet the attacks continue.

All in all, a complex situation – made more complex if you should consider the following.

Over the previous 48 hrs the Taliban militia has attacked and destroyed around 300 trucks carrying military supplies at parking lots located in the heart of Peshawar city yesterday. It may be pertinent to note that the attacks have taken place continuously over two days in the heart of a city which is also the headquarters of the Pakistan Army's 11 Corps.

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