The leak has embarrassed both Pakistan and the US and brought their uneasy relationship under strain. Though the leaks were from past years, they show how the US military has long suspected Pakistan's support for the Taliban.However, the two countries have had no other option but to cooperate with each other in the 'war on terror' as the US needed — and still needs — Pakistan's cooperation in fighting al-Qaeda and Taliban members who easily cross the Pak-Afghan border and pose danger to US and NATO forces in Afghanistan.

Secretary of State Clinton made her statement while visiting Islamabad, even going to the extent of claiming that some people in the Pakistan government knew bin Laden's whereabouts in the country. This is not the first time that she has made such a statement. The hawkish Clinton has in the past alleged that she could not believe that people in the Pakistan government and military would be unaware about the hideouts of bin Laden and Taliban leader Mulla Mohammad Omar in Pakistan.

Reacting to her recent statement, Pakistan's Prime Minister Yousaf Raza Gilani said those who have any information about bin Laden's whereabouts should share it with his government and Pakistan would take immediate action against him. A day later, on July 21, the country's Foreign Minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi argued that bin Laden and al-Qaeda were no friends of Pakistan and, therefore, his government would go after bin Laden if it knew his whereabouts. He pointed out that bin Laden and al-Qaeda were disturbing the peace of Pakistan, the region and the world, and Pakistan would take action against him if it knew his hideouts. Terming Hillary Clinton's allegations as mere speculations, he said any information regarding bin Laden would be shared with Pakistan so that effective and timely action could be taken against him. He stressed that Pakistan's intentions shouldn't be doubted as it had suffered the most in the war on terror and endured the highest number of casualties.

Clinton's statement showed the extent of mistrust between the US and Pakistan, who are supposed to be allies in the fight against al-Qaeda and the Taliban. Though Clinton and other US officials believe that bin Laden and Mulla Omar are hiding in Pakistan, neither they nor anyone else have been able to specifically pinpoint their whereabouts. There have been no sightings of bin Laden and Mulla Omar to date, in Pakistan or anywhere else.

Pakistan was faced with a dilemma as the US wasn't fully satisfied with Pakistan's efforts in the 'war on terror' and the Pakistanis were also becoming impatient and increasingly counting the costs of the war and its pro-US policies. One indication of this is the debate going on in Pakistan with regard to the losses suffered by the country due to this war. Government officials have been giving different figures, ranging from US $35 billion to $44 billion. Mirza Ikhtiar Baig, the adviser to the Prime Minister, said on July 21 that Pakistan has spent $35 billion on the so-called war on terror but in return the US over the last several years has given it only $12 billion. He argued that the war on terror had almost ruined Pakistan's economy and that it would have to spend a lot of money in the coming years on reconstruction of the conflict areas and rehabilitation of the affected population.

Sherry Rahman, Pakistan's former Information Minister and a member of the Senate and the ruling PPP, also joined the debate, estimating that Pakistan's losses amounted to $100 billion.

The cost was not only in terms of money. Pakistan was bleeding with more deaths as the terrorists struck in urban areas and indulged in target-killings. Bomb explosions continued to take place, mostly in the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, previously known as NWFP, and the adjoining tribal areas. Just when everybody thought that Swat was safe enough to host peace festivals and welcome tourists, the terrorists struck once again. The bomb explosion outside the busy bus stand in Mingora on July 15 killed five persons and caused injuries to 44 others. It was a grim reminder that the militants still possessed the capability to launch occasional attacks despite the presence of thousands of regular and paramilitary soldiers and the police in the Swat valley.

The situation in Swat has vastly improved in the past one year following military action against the militants. Still, the militants are sometimes able to sneak into Swat to carry out target-killings of their opponents and explode bombs. But they lack popular support and are unable to stay undetected for long. The Amn Mela, or peace festival in Mingora and Kalam, was organized to send a message to tourists that Swat was peaceful and ready to receive tourists. However, the latest bombing in Mingora, in which some tourists were also caught in the explosion, sent a negative message and could affect the prospects of the revival of tourism in Swat.

Swat isn't the only place that has suffered violence in recent days. The Bajaur Agency has again become a matter of concern as the militants, after a long gap, were able to fire rockets at Khar, its principal town and headquarters, and blow up a number of schools. The 94th educational institution in Bajaur was destroyed on July 13 when the Government Middle School in Tani village in the former militants' stronghold of Mamond was blown up by dynamite. A day earlier, a girls' primary school in Baba Killay just outside Khar town was blown up. Schools for girls are a prime target for the militants, though they haven't spared educational institutions for boys, health outlets and other government buildings. Any place associated with the government and anyone supporting or interacting with the security forces is considered by the militants a legitimate target.

The militants went a step further on July 17 in Bajaur when they attacked several security forces checkpoints near Khar and other towns, killing a soldier and injuring several others. This was a daring act in the presence of several thousand army troops in the area. It was the first time, after the military action some months ago in Bajaur, that the militants had struck at roadside security checkpoints.

In the adjoining Mohmand Agency, people were still trying to cope with the tragedy of the suicide bombings in Ekkghund town, in which 107 people, mostly civilians, were killed and scores of others injured, the emboldened militants started destroying schools and other government installations and target-killing anti-Taliban tribal elders. The military was reportedly considering new and more focused military operations in Mohmand Agency.

Target-killings also continued and on July 25 the militants assassinated Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Information Minister Mian Iftikhar Hussain's only son, Mian Rashid Hussain, a 27-year-old youth. The minister, who belongs to the nationalist Awami National Party (ANP) is the most vocal member of the provincial government against the militants. The next day, a suicide bomber struck near the minister's house in Pabbi near Peshawar killing nine people including four policemen, and injuring 25 others.

There were target-killings in Karachi also as the MQM, the party of Urdu-speaking migrants from India and the ANP, which represents the ethnic Pakhtuns, fought in the streets of Pakistan's biggest and richest city. Also alarming was the situation in Balochistan, where violent protests took place in the provincial capital, Quetta, and other Baloch-populated parts of the province against the July 14 assassination of a Baloch nationalist leader, Habib Jalib Baloch. A former Senator and secretary general of the Balochistan National Party (BNP), Baloch was gunned down in Quetta. The attackers made good their escape on a motorbike and remain unidentified and untraceable so far.

Fifty-seven-year-old Baloch was a lawyer by profession. He was also a writer and poet and had studied in Russia. He had lived in self-exile in Afghanistan twice and had spent a number of years in Pakistani jails. Belonging to the middle class, the bearded nationalist politician remained a member of the Senate for six years until 2003 and ran the party, BNP, in the absence of party head Sardar Akhtar Jan Mengal, a former chief minister of Balochistan who had been jailed.

Habib Jalib Baloch's assassination is being described as the most tragic incident in Balochistan after the killing of another Baloch politician, Nawab Akbar Bugti, who lost his life in a military action during General Musharraf's rule. A few days before Baloch's assassination, another Baloch politician, Maula Bakhsh Dashti, was killed. These killings are contributing to the worsening of the situation in Balochistan, where a low-intensity Baloch insurgency, target-killings and ethnic and sectarian violence have become a matter of grave concern for the Pakistani state. Those killed believed in parliamentary democracy and were willing to keep Balochistan in the federation of Pakistan.

The Baloch separatists and nationalists are blaming the military-run intelligence agencies for these assassinations, but the government is denying the allegations. The government has accused India of involvement in the acts of violence in Balochistan and has asked the Afghan government to check the activities of Indian intelligence agencies in Afghanistan. The Afghan government has given refuge to many Baloch separatists but denies arming or helping the Baloch insurgents. The recent measures taken by the Pakistan government to pacify the Baloch nationalists and empower the Balochistan government have been described as too little too late.

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