“During the Vietnam War, an unidentified U.S. Army major was famously quoted as saying, ‘It became necessary to destroy the town to save it.’ That, in essence, is what happened to Zafarullah’s home village of Hassu Khel and many other places in North Waziristan, where the Pakistani military has waged a scorched-earth campaign to root out Islamist militants. By most accounts, the campaign was effective — but the price was high.”

Source: Pakistan gets a grip on a region known as a nexus of terror — but residents pay a price for peace – LA Times