Tribal Revolt pushes Pakistan to brink

I have been saying for a few months now that Pakistan is ripe for a coup, or perhaps more likely, a protracted and violent civil war. For example:

Tribal revolt pushes Pakistan to brink

by Saeed Shah from The Scotsman

In the North West Frontier Province last week, bombs have been placed in record shops and barbers, despised by Islamic extremists who regard music and clean-shaven men as Westernised heresy. They espouse the obscurantist creed of Wahhabi Islam preached by Osama bin Laden ... In the valley of Swat, in the North West Frontier Province, a religious fanatic, Maulana Fazullah, has taken over the area. The police are too afraid to patrol and the local administration has gone into hiding. Pakistani army battalions have been sent to the area but as yet they are still in camp, awaiting instructions to deploy. Fazullah issues decrees over his own FM radio station, and his men have even taken over traffic control duties. Analysts point out that the same Pushtun tribesmen are settled in Karachi, the massive port city in the south of the country.

(Hat tip to Wahaudi)