Five days after America dropped its first bomb on Afghanistan, the people of Pakistan are wondering what the future will bring.
Boasting a long and sorry history of political instability and civil strife, they are facing an ever-uncertain future.
Today, Pakistan braces itself for the worst violent anti-American protests by Islamic fundamentalists following the September 11th terrorist attacks on New York and Washington.
Military all over the country are on high alert with rallies planned after the Friday prayers. They are determined not to have a repeat of the violent scenes witnessed in Qatar earlier this week.
Soldiers in Pakistani cities are on stand-by with security in the capital, Islamabad, the tightest in memory. The military has set up machine-gun nests and placed snipers on roofs.
Sandbags have been stacked at government and public buildings and on roads leading to Western embassies. Foreigners have been warned to be extra careful if they go out today.
There was also high security on the road between Islamabad and Peshawar. Before we set out from Islamabad yesterday for the frontier capital, we were warned to be careful.
Twice soldiers at checkpoints stopped us, but apart from that our journey went unhindered. Life appeared to be going on as normal in the towns and villages we passed through along the dusty route.
In Peshawar, there were armed soldiers on every street corner in the city. Outside the home of one army general we passed, there were five armed soldiers.
The rumour machine is rife. When flames roared through army headquarters in Rawalpindi near Islamabad, word spread that the military leader, Gen Pervez Musharraf, was being toppled by the Islamic militants.
Officials were quick to say the fire was caused by an "electrical short-circuit" in an army stationery store.
Earlier this week Gen Musharraf shuffled aside militant Islamic generals in the military, sidelined the head of his spy agency and put the leaders of Islamic political parties under house arrest in an attempt to quash dissent.
Yesterday, the general chaired a special cabinet meeting to deal with the protests that are becoming larger and increasingly violent on Pakistan streets.
The most common question on people's lips this week was where were you when the first American bomb was dropped on Afghanistan.
Omar Khan was at home with his family in Peshawar on Sunday night when he heard screaming outside. It turned out to be a group of Islamic extremists protesting at the bombing.
"I ran back inside and switched on to CNN. Even though we were all expecting this I could not believe what I was seeing. It is so sad. This is not only ripping Afghanistan apart, but our country as well."
Amina Waheed and her one-year-old son were in Dubai visiting relatives when she saw the news of the attack on television. She flew back to Islamabad yesterday where her husband is a successful businessman.
"I don't know what is going to happen. Everything is so uncertain here now," she said.
While she and her husband support Gen Musharraf in his actions, they are critical of the US for putting pressure on Pakistan.
A young student who plans to join today's protests told The Irish Times the protests would only become bigger.
"The killing of innocent Pakistanis to support the terrorism of America is a crime. We will not stop our protesting. It will only become bigger as the war continues. Osama bin Laden is not the terrorist, it is George Bush."
Most Pakistanis are steering clear of the protests and appear to support Gen Musharraf's attempts to kill militant Islam, but there is no mistaking the sympathy that many feel for bin Laden.
Many young Pakistanis have downloaded a cartoon image of the suspected terrorist that shows up on cellphones with graphic capabilities.
One young man said yesterday it was a method of showing support. Some Pakistani newspapers are making the United States and Britain out to be the ogres.
The News, an Islamabad paper, has reported unsourced rumours that the US military has brought tactical nuclear weapons, including the neutron bomb, to the region for use against Afghanistan. Meanwhile the border crossings are still sealed with barbed wire and steel gates. Despite five days of sustained bombing, the message to 22 million Afghans is still clear - don't come to Pakistan.
Hundreds of Afghans are sneaking illegally across the border daily, climbing over barren hills and through craggy mountain passes with their children in hand, and their belongings bundled atop donkeys.
A newspaper reported yesterday that 1,300 Afghan refugees made it over the border at Torkham near Peshawar.
But Pakistan is hardly a peaceful oasis for them. With as many as three million refugees already in the impoverished country, many Pakistanis resent their presence.
And the fear is the burden will become unbearable with aid agencies talking about the prospect of another million or more refugees descending in the coming weeks.