Pak Military advance with Kotkai taken

Dawn discusses army news of three soldiers dead and the advance into militant territory now that Kotkai is taken.

Meanwhile, Geo News has something approaching an editorial - here is an extract;

Troops overran Kotkai, in South Waziristan, on two previous occasions only to retreat after signing the kind of peace deals that Western critics have savaged for granting sanctuary to Al-Qaeda-linked militants.

Witnesses among more than 120,000 civilians displaced by the conflict speak of heavy bombing and long-distance artillery, tactics that maximise collateral damage and undercut modern counter-insurgency doctrine.

While the army says more than 160 militants and 23 troops have been killed, it is impossible to assess the advance, resistance or casualties -- civilian or otherwise -- because the area is cut off to journalists and aid workers.