Taliban is biggest threat to ‘existence of Pakistan,’ says Defense Minister, pledging continued war

Pakistan’s war against the Taliban will continue, Pakistani Defense Minister Khawaja Asif told CNN’s Christiane Amanpour on Tuesday, in the wake of the Taliban massacre of Pakistani schoolchildren.

“The Taliban, these extremists, the terrorists, they are the biggest threat to peace in this region, to peace in Pakistan, to the existence of Pakistan,” Khawaja Asif said.

“We are undeterred. We won’t back off, we are on the front line for the last now almost eleven, twelve years. We need the world, especially Western countries, must recognize – unqualified recognition should be given to our sacrifices. … Even the children are dying on the frontline in the war against terror.”

At least 145 people were killed and more than a hundred injured, most of them children, at a school for the families of military personnel in Peshawar.

“The smaller the coffin, the heavier it is to carry it. And we’ve been carrying smaller coffins today, more than a hundred small coffins we’ve been carrying, the Pakistani nation.”

“It’s a very, very tragic day, and when people tell us how to conduct this war and they say that we are discriminate against this group and not doing enough, it really hurts, you know. It’s like belittling our sacrifices against this war.”  Read More at CNN