…condemned as a “brutal act of terrorism” the killing of five Ukrainians, three Chinese, and one Russian who were tourists in the mountains of northern Pakistan, as well as a Pakistani guide.

But in reporting the story the AP just could not bring itself to write the dread and forbidden t-word. Here’s the lede, which would be funny if it weren’t so horrific and chilling, offensive, sad, and suicidally and relentlessly PC:

At least a dozen Islamic militants wearing police uniforms shot to death nine foreign tourists and one Pakistani before dawn Sunday as they were visiting one of the world’s highest mountains… officials said.

You know what? I bet those Pakistani officials didn’t say “militants,” or even the Urdu equivalent. They’re not that dumb. It’s only the AP, and its insane cousins Reuters et al who can’t bear to use the word, even in unequivocally bloodcurdling situations like this (and note how the AP switches to the even-more-neutral “gunmen”):

The gunmen were wearing uniforms used by the Gilgit Scouts, a paramilitary police force that patrols the area, said the interior minister. The attackers abducted two local guides to find their way to the remote base camp. One of the guides was killed in the shooting, and the other has been detained and is being questioned, said Khan…

Pakistani Taliban spokesman Ahsanullah Ahsan claimed responsibility for the attack, saying their Jundul Hafsa group carried out the shooting as retaliation for the death of the Taliban’s deputy leader, Waliur Rehman, in a U.S. drone attack on May 29.

“By killing foreigners, we wanted to give a message to the world to play their role in bringing an end to the drone attacks,” Ahsan told The Associated Press by telephone from an undisclosed location…

The attackers beat up the Pakistanis who were accompanying the tourists, took their money and tied them up, said a senior local government official. They checked the identities of the Pakistanis and shot to death one of them, possibly because he was a minority Shiite Muslim, said the official…

The attackers took the money and passports from the foreigners and then gunned them down, said the official.

Actually, “terrorist” is a mild and inadequate word for what these people are.

One of the sad things about this incident is that the perpetrators know full well that much of the left will take their words to heart and “play their role” in blaming the whole thing on the drone attacks and demanding that they stop.