Islamabad, Pakistan - Not getting the welcome home he wanted, Pakistani Prime Minister Yousef Gilani returned to Islamabad today after three days of high-level meetings in the U.S. as a battle raged in the northwestern Swat valley. While he was gone, violence has kicked-up in Swat where a pro-Taliban militant group has been steadily increasing its influence and power despite a peace deal with the government back in May. Pakistan’s military has been battling with the militants for two days after Taliban fighters abducted 25 policemen. Nearly 60 people have been killed, including 13 civilians. This is just such a situation Prime Minster Gilani says his government will handle in its own way while on his state visit to the U.S.

There’s American concern that the Pakistan government’s choice to talk with tribal elders to use their influence with militants is not working. In fact, top U.S. military officials believe talks have given Taliban militants more room to grow and allows safe havens for Al Qaeda leaders hiding out in the remote region to remain. When asked by Fox News about this concern, Major General Athar Abbas, the Pakistani Army Spokesman, said “There are no quick fixes to this problem, we have to go for solutions which are homegrown.” Meaning, the situation is in Pakistan and has to be dealt with in a Pakistani way.

In the Federally Administered Tribal Areas (FATA), militants are continuing to cross over into Afghanistan to attack U.S.-led coalition forces and their Afghan counterparts. Afghan and NATO officials say the attacks are up 40% this year. And recently the top Taliban leader in Pakistan Beitullah Mesud started pulling militant groups together creating a Taliban umbrella organization. But some groups are holding out and not joining. They are steadfast in staying on their own such as one group who has created parallel systems because they say the government is not providing the Islamic way of life they want.

One such group is Lashkar-e-Islam, the local Taliban that controls the Khyber Tribal agency. Their number two in charge, Haji Mesri Khan, gave Fox News a rare one-on-one interview this week in FATA. Khan said “Ever since assistant secretary of State Richard Boucher visited (Pakistan) and they (Pakistani Government) started to take money from the U.S. and attacked us, things have gone bad between us and the government.” The big picture impact of what could happen if the militants continue to train, arm and grow is dire. It’s thought that the next major terrorist attack on the West could be planned in FATA.