May 16,2008: In Pakistan, popular support for al Qaeda and the Taliban is declining. Police are getting more tips from citizens about terrorist activities, and catching more terrorists before attacks can be carried out. This does not apply in Pakistani Kashmir, where terrorist camps remain undisturbed, and Islamic terrorists continue to sneak across the border and attack Indian troops and police. There has been an increase in such movements, with three groups of terrorists moving across in a four day period in the last week. Over 50,000 have died in Islamic militant violence in Kashmir over the last two decades. This ruined the thriving tourism based economy of Kashmir, and eventually turned the largely Moslem population against the terrorists. In Pakistan, Islamic militants have attacked the Swat Valley, also a popular tourist area. Same thing in India, where the city Jaipur was recently attacked, and the Islamic attackers said they would hit other tourist attractions.

May 15, 2008: In Pakistan, the government has agreed to remove some troops from the tribal areas along the Afghan border, and the Taliban, in return halt terrorist attacks. As part of the deal, the government released 30 tribal militants from prison, while terrorists released a dozen soldiers they had captured. This, in effect, provides the Taliban and al Qaeda with sanctuaries, although the peace deal includes a Taliban promise to expel "foreigners" from their territories. But there is no way to verify this, and any terror attacks that do take place in the future can just be denied by the Taliban, and blamed on someone else. Meanwhile, more Pakistani tribesmen are moving into Afghanistan to fight. These tribal war parties are getting clobbered, with a hundred or more tribesmen killed each week. That sort of thing tends to make recruiting more difficult, except at the religious schools on the Pakistani side of the border, where "martyrdom" is sold as a good thing.

May 14, 2008: In Pakistan, two missiles hit a building full of Taliban, killing 18 people. American Predator UAVs were blamed. The U.S. has its own intelligence network on the Pakistani side of the border, and gets some information from Pakistani counter-terrorism organizations. Via an informal agreement, U.S. Predator UAVs, and other intel aircraft, operate on the Pakistani side of the border, and set up these attacks on Taliban and al Qaeda leaders.

May 13, 2008: In the western India city of Jaipur, seven terrorist bombs went off, killing 61 people and wounding over a hundred. An eighth bomb did not go off, and was disabled by police. A previously unknown group, the Indian Mujahideen, took credit for the attack, and threatened to attack more tourist sites (Jaipur is popular with tourists). Police arrested suspects in Jaipur who had connections with Bangladeshi Islamic terrorists, but the Bangladesh government pointed out that they had crippled the group in question with a series of arrests over the past year. India has also broken most of the known Indian Islamic terrorist groups in the past year. But there are still thousands of Moslem young men out there, inspired by media and Internet material to become terrorists. The key, however, is people capable of handling the planning and technical aspects of such attacks. That requires rare skills, so the Indian police are thinking about al Qaeda or Pakistani sponsored groups helping out.

On the Line of Control separating Indian and Pakistani Kashmir, Pakistani troops opened fire with heavy machine-guns (about 50 rounds) and mortars (about 8 shells) on an Indian border bunker. This was the first time this has happened in nearly five years, since a truce was established. There were no Indian casualties, and the Indians did not return fire. The Pakistani commander for that section of the border denied that the firing had taken place.

May 11, 2008: In eastern India, police and troops intercepted a group of fifty Maoist gunmen who were preparing to attack a construction company. Two police were killed, and the Maoists retreated. The communist terrorists survive by extorting money from businesses. The police respond by hunting down the Maoist "enforcers" and Maoist leadership.

May 10, 2008: A bomb exploded against the outside wall of a college for women in Pakistan. There have been several attacks against schools and colleges for women lately. Shutting down such institutions is a major goal of Islamic terrorists. In Quetta, on the border of the Pushtun tribal areas and Baluchistan, a crudely made bomb went off in a restaurant, wounding 19 people.

May 9, 2008: Islamic radicals in Pakistan's Swat Valley have agreed to cease their attacks, and the army will stop searching for and arresting the militants. Peace talks will try and work out a peace deal. This has been tried in the past, and usually results in ceasefire that eventually breaks down. The militants are on a mission from God, and have no intention of giving up.