Jamaat-i-Islami party rally against Swat assault

Pakistan rally against Swat assault

Protesters criticised the offensive as part of Washington’s so-called ‘war on terror’ [AFP] Hundreds of supporters of Pakistan’s opposition Jamaat-i-Islami party have demonstrated in what is believed to be the first major protest against the military’s offensive against the Taliban in North West Frontier Province (NWFP). The demonstration in the capital, Islamabad, on Sunday took place as the army fought bloody street-to-street battles in Mingora, the main city in the Swat valley. “To this point there has been absolutely total political support for the ongoing operation in Swat valley,” Al Jazeera’s Mike Hanna, reporting from Islamabad, said. “But now there is the first sign that there are sectors in society who are opposed to what is going on.”