Pakistani Women discuss the Taliban in Pakistan

Part One: Pakistani Women Panel

As the fighting in Pakistan's Swat Valley rages on, hundreds-of-thousands of civilians are just trying to stay out of the cross-fire. At least 360,000 people have fled their homes since a military offensive that began last week.

And according to the United Nations Refugee Agency, more seem likely to follow. The Pakistani Army is trying to push back Taliban fighters after they got within 65 kilometres of the capital, Islamabad. Government officials say more than 700 militants have been killed along with 20 soldiers.

Many Pakistani women support the government's bid to oust the Taliban from the Swat Valley. But as in many conflict zones, women are also among the most vulnerable once the fighting starts.

For their thoughts on the fighting and what's at stake for women in Pakistan, we were joined by Kamila Shamsie. She is a Pakistani-born novelist who now lives in the United Kingdom. Her latest novel is Burnt Shadows and she was in Ottawa this morning. Shahina Siddiqui is a Pakistan-born Canadian and the President of the Islamic Social Services Association in Winnipeg. And Fatima Bhutto is a Pakistani journalist who writes for the country's largest Urdu-language newspaper as well as The New Statesman magazine. She's also the niece of Benazir Bhutto and she's currently working on a book about Pakistan, her prominent family and the violence that connects them. She was in Karachi.

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