'There was firing everywhere... Whatever it was, it was hell on earth'. This civilian had no time to hide when the army launched an attack against suspected targets. '200, 250 people were killed and houses destroyed, there was fighting and planes flying over, suddenly the planes started bombing the market'. Keen to clean up the area, the army has caused massive destruction. Its scorched earth policy is also leaving nearly half a million people homeless and angry. President Zadari's spokesman argues that this brutal approach is the only way to respond to the Taliban's guerrilla warfare: 'if we do not check them now, they might overrun the whole country...This is the price one really has to pay when you are fighting the militants and the extremists.' Despite the government's claims that the situation is improving, the enemy is gaining ground, even raiding NATO forces supply lines. Opposition leader Imran Khan believes the military campaign is counter-productive: 'This has actually been the greatest gift for the terrorists of 9/11' he warns, 'Pakistan is a country of 160 million people. A destabilised Pakistan, a radical, destabilised Pakistan is in no-one's interests'.