Pakistan in pictures: a correspondent's view

Matta district, October 2009: Umer Jan, a 55-year-old barber in the Swat Valley, is back at work after having spent months living in a centre for internally displaced people in Mardan district. Under the Taliban he was forbidden from shaving mens' beards Photograph: Declan Walsh for the Guardian

Karachi, October 2010: Women offering prayers at a rally held by the Lyari Aman ("Peace") Committee, a self-styled community organisation that critics say has links to organised crime groups, but which is popular among many Lyari residents because it offers protection from encroachment by other ethnic groups in the city Photograph: Declan Walsh for the Guardian

Kalash Valley: Girls practise the Kalasha language in a private school built by the Greek government in their mountain homeland in the Chitral district of northwestern Pakistan
Photograph: Declan Walsh for the Guardian

Peshawar: Hakeem Khan, a 60-year-old farmer from Bajaur in the tribal belt who lost his leg after being hit by an army bomb during fighting with Taliban militants in late 2008 Photograph: Declan Walsh for the Guardian

Lahore: Musician Mubarak Ali of the Sachal Studios Orchestra at his home in Model Town Photograph: Declan Walsh for the Guardian

Shandur, July 2009: Security at a polo festival was stepped up after political and religious leaders warned of a possible Taliban attack. The district mayor, who belongs to a religious political party, tried to have the festival cancelled, but failed Photograph: Declan Walsh for the Guardian

Swat Valley: Men cross the Swat river with a wheat-laden inflatable craft Photograph: Decland Walsh for the Guardian

September 2010: Aerial view of the Swat river six weeks after flash floods triggered by record rains caused massive destruction in the northwestern Swat valley. Photo taken from an American military helicopter delivering aid to flood-stricken residents Photograph: Declan Walsh for the Guardian

Kalam Valley, July 2010: Flood-stricken villagers are evacuated in an American Chinook helicopter, because the roads were cut off by the raging Swat river during torrential rains Photograph: Declan Walsh for the Guardian

Karachi, September 2010: A child from a flood-affected community living in an old rice storage depot on the edge of the city. Conditions are filthy, with little sanitation or shelter, although the government provides food and water Photograph: Declan Walsh for the Guardian

Karachi, September 2010: Shehrban, a one-day old child from a flood affected community, living in an old rice storage depot on the edge of the city Photograph: Declan Walsh for the Guardian

Sehwan Sharif, October 2010: A flooded area in Sindh province, inundated by overflowing water from nearby Manchar Lake Photograph: Declan Walsh for the Guardian

Swat Valley: Villagers cling to a jeep as they crawl along a freshly constructed dirt trail built by the Pakistani army to help villagers cut off by the flash floods that ravaged the upper part of the valley in the summer of 2010 Photograph: Declan Walsh for the Guardian

Mardan, May 2009: Refugees from Buner, Dir and Swat districts seek registration at a reception centre for internally displaced people Photograph: Declan Walsh for the Guardian

Chitral: Major Geoffrey Langlands, a 91-year-old former British army officer who founded a school in the Hindu Kush mountains Photograph: Declan Walsh for the Guardian

Chitral: Pakistani teenagers walk to class at the Langlands School and College, North West Frontier Province Photograph: Declan Walsh for the Guardian

Rawalpindi: Pakistani hijras, or transgender women, at a function on the outskirts of the garrison city that is home to the headquarters of Pakistan's military Photograph: Declan Walsh for the Guardian

Itanwali village: A man working in a brick-kiln factory on the edge of the village, after the death of Punjab governor Salmaan Taseer. He was killed because he supported a poor Christian woman from the village, Aasia Bibi, who had been sentenced to death under the notorious blasphemy laws. Neighbours in the village said they supported her prosecution Photograph: Declan Walsh for the Guardian

Sehwan Sharif: The Quaid i Awam, or Father of the Nation restaurant, covered in images of members of the Bhutto political dynasty Photograph: Declan Walsh for the Guardian

Banai Baba Ziarat: Pakistani soldiers atop a strategic mountain ridge captured from the Taliban after a 12-hour battle on May 20, 2009. Behind the soldiers, further down the valley, lies the main town, Mingora Photograph: Declan Walsh for the Guardian