Best of the BBC

Islamist violence in Pakistan

Pakistan is gripped by a wave of bloody attacks by Islamic militants. In one of the most recent, they stormed a police training school in Lahore armed with guns and grenades. It’s the latest evidence of the violence spreading from the troubled North-West border region to the country’s major cities. The BBC’s Jill McGivering has been traveling across Pakistan, conducting interviews with a variety of people in an attempt to assess the impact of the insurgency.

In the capital Islamabad Jill attended an exclusive tea-party. There she spoke with Mona, one of the guests, who told her that even the richest families in Pakistan feel vulnerable.

Also in Islamabad, Jill meets up with Humaira Ghazanfar Bilour who’s just moved her family from their home city of Peshawar in the northwest of the country, near the border with Afghanistan. Humaira Ghazanfar Bilour describes the worsening security situation there.

The Pakistan government’s recent decision to sign a peace deal bringing sharia law to the Swat Valley, has divided opinion. For the past two years Islamic militants have been fighting the security forces in the Swat valley. Some say the deal will bring peace; others accuse the government of appeasement – and say it’ll only encourage the extremists to demand more. Jill met a man who was born in Swat but recently fled with his family.