Peace Deal in Pakistan's Northwest Unravels

(5 May 09-RV) Taliban militants and security forces battled for control of a northwestern Pakistani town today as residents hunkered down in their homes ahead of an expected major offensive. Thousands of men, women and children have fled Mingora and surrounding districts, the first wave of a refugee exodus the government fears could reach 500,000.
The collapse of a 3-month-old truce in the Swat Valley with the Taliban means Pakistan will have to evict the insurgents by force, putting strain on a controversial peace pact centered under which the government is introducing Islamic law in the surrounding region. Peter Jacob, executive secretary of the Church's National Commission for Justice and Peace, spoke with us about religious freedom in Swat Valley.