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MARCO WERMAN: That porous border between Pakistan and Afghanistan has allowed the Taliban to move back and forth with ease. Taliban militants use Pakistan's Northwest Frontier province as a base for attacks on US in Afghanistan, but they also pose a threat to security in Pakistan itself. Last year, the Pakistani government said the Taliban were behind riots in the port city of Karachi. The BBC's Barbara Plett went there and filed this report.

BARBARA PLETT: This is Karachi, the biggest city in Pakistan, the most liberal and culturally diverse, and the most volatile. It's the financial and commercial hub and a gateway to the region, but now there are fears that the country's Islamist insurgency is seeping into its teeming streets. Two months ago, armed men attacked the house of this government driver. He says they were Taliban – men with beards and long hair. They beat up his children and shot him as he ran away. It's true that Pashtuns from the Taliban-dominated northwest have been settling in this neighborhood on the edge of Karachi. This alarms locals like Muhammed Rafiq and the political party to which he belongs – the MQM, which runs the city. Rafiq takes me to the top of a hill to make his point. In the valley below live supporters of the MQM, mostly descendents of Muslim migrants who came from India 60 years ago at the time of partition. But on the heights around them, Pashtun squatters are building. Rafiq is convinced they're the means through which the Taliban are trying to extend their influence in Karachi.

RAFIQ: They want to make power in Karachi. They want to show that the city is a religious city, and because we are against fundamentalism so they don't like us and they make programs to fight with us and to occupy Karachi.

PLETT: But many Pashtuns seek only safety. The recent arrivals fled their homes on the Afghan border to escape fighting between the Taliban and the Pakistan army. They join the millions of Pashtuns in Karachi already. And this community was also hurt in the recent clashes. This burned out timber market was one of some 300 Pashtun businesses targeted by alleged MQM vigilantes. Piles of blackened logs are scattered around the destroyed timber market and the ground is still covered with soot. And in the corner, family members of the workers and the owners here have gathered to pray for a blessing so the market can be rebuilt. The muezzin from a nearby mosque echoes their sentiments. People here see the confrontation as part of an ongoing struggle for land and power between the city's two main ethnic groups. At any rate, local political activist Ismail Khan, insists it's not about Talibanization. “We haven't seen any kind of Taliban activity here. The Pashtuns coming to Karachi are ordinary people. Even if the Taliban did come, we would support the government against them.” There may not be signs of Taliban control, but there are Taliban militants in the city. We are on our way to interview a Taliban fighter. He's been very nervous about meeting us, so we've agreed to speak to him in our vehicle. He tells us he goes to fight against NATO in Afghanistan. He lives and works in Karachi, but says it's not part of the front line. “The city's not about to fall to the Taliban”, he insists. “Karachi is too big a city to take over. To make a base in Karachi, you need a huge force, and we don't have that kind of force here. We're just involved in Afghanistan. We're not interested in conquering Karachi.” In many ways, Karachi is a microcosm of Pakistan, so it feels the effects of NATO's war with the Taliban, like displaced people and the specter of Talibanization. This aggravates existing tensions and fear, because if Karachi goes up in flames, Pakistan may follow. For The World, this is Barbara Plett, in Karachi, Pakistan.

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