Dangerous Ground

David Guttenfelder / AP

The dreariness of a Karachi slum is broken by a portrait of Benazir Bhutto, who was a self-styled fighter for the poor

In recent weeks, Pakistan, one of the world's most dangerous countries, has been further shaken by, of all people, a bus driver, a ski-lift operator and a gym rat. On June 28 Pakistani paramilitary forces chased militants led by Mangal Bagh, who used to drive a bus, from the fringes of Peshawar, a key transit point for supplies for U.S. and NATO forces fighting the Taliban insurgency in neighboring Afghanistan. While the operation was nominally successful — Bagh and his men were driven from the area and his compound was blown up — the militant leader was back on...

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