Sir: The discovery of seven bullet-riddled corpses in Karachi of men suspected of being Taliban militants is a grotesque testament to the state of law and order in the country. On the one hand, the government is unwilling to aggressively pursue a military operation against the Taliban in their tribal strongholds and the military denies any involvement in judicial or other prosecution of Taliban militants in Karachi, despite claims by the Taliban that its members are being hunted. The Taliban deserve to be hunted. They are at war with the state and people of Pakistan; they should expect no mercy or special treatment for their crimes. They must be eliminated. They do not expect justice. However, we as a society must be willing to dispense justice, not vengeance and brutality. This is a fundamental aspect of turning the narrative war against the Taliban. If it emerges that these men were indeed part of the Taliban, can we as a society condone extrajudicial killings? Do we wish to turn the whole country into a designated war zone? Taliban men should be captured and tried, but killing them out of hand only undermines our own claim to being better than the brutes we are fighting. ALI HAIDER Lahore