Taliban announces Swat Valley cease-fire

TIMAGERA, Pakistan, Feb. 15 (UPI) -- A Taliban spokesman says the Islamic militant group is instituting a cease-fire against Pakistani troops in the northwestern Swat Valley region.

Spokesman Muslim Khan announced the 10-day cease-fire Sunday while militants held talks with the North-West Frontier province's government in Timagera, CNN reported.

The Pakistani government gave no immediate confirmation of the cease-fire to the U.S. broadcaster.

Analysts said the Timagera negotiations are an attempt by the government of Pakistan President Asif Ali Zardari to achieve peace through diplomacy in the Swat Valley, which was once a popular tourist attraction but now is a stronghold of Taliban insurgents.

The Taliban's presence in Swat is considered to be the deepest advance by militants into areas outside Pakistan's hardscrabble tribal regions, CNN said.