Nice departure from the stories sourced heavily with government and military officials and diplomats. Does it give too much credit to Bakht Biland, the profile subject? Perhaps. But this says more about the atmosphere on the ground in Swat than most reports I've read.

Interesting report from Mingora, the largest city in Pakistan's Swat Valley, where refugees are starting to come back, but still fear for their safety. This short article centers around the perspective of taxi driver Bakht Biland, as the reporter follows his journey home from a steamy refugee camp where his family spent two months in a tent. An informative and nuanced update on the human toll which this conflict has inflicted on Pakistani people.

Very anecdotal. Good read. Would have benefitted from having multiple sources.

Bahkt gives us a realistic perspective, but the side that really tells us how the two sides feel about normal people is Shamin Khan, the man mentioned at the end of the story who was "victimised by both sides." The reality of this war lies somewhere within his story. But that's probably for the Independent.

I felt this was very good piece on the citizens caught between the Taliban and Pakistan army in the Swat valley, though it really doesn't go into much detail about military strategies and the hows and whys of what had happened

This story gives a glimpse at the effect the war has had on civilians in the area. A nice human-interest story.

Not really.