During his address to the nation after declaring martial lawon November 3, 2007, President and (now retired) General Pervez Musharraf hadmentioned that terrorism and Islamist extremism had reached their peak, and thatincidents of suicide attacks throughout Pakistan had increased manifold.However, Musharraf, now a civilian President, has, since then, used hisEmergency powers primarily to imprison political opponents, civil societyactivists and media personnel. While his beleaguered regime concentrates itsenergy on clinging to power, the diffusion of turmoil across the length andbreadth of the country and the intensification of multiple insurgencies shows nosigns of abating. In fact, violence has actually worsened since the impositionof Emergency rule. More than 728 persons, including 341 militants and 293civilians and 94 security force (SF) personnel, have died in November, making itthe most lethal month in terms of fatalities not only in 2007, but since 2001.More than half of these fatalities have been inflicted in the Swat District ofthe North West Frontier Province (NWFP). In fact, more than 624 people have diedin the Swat District in 2007 in at least 134 incidents. Most of the victims ofviolence in Swat during in November 2007, the most lethal month, have been dueto the indiscriminate strafing of villages by the Pakistan Army's helicoptergunships. (Significantly, the actual fatalities may be significantly higher, asinformation flows and reportage in the region are severely restricted).