Taliban announces Swat Valley cease-fire

Published: Feb. 15, 2009 at 1:42 PM

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.

© 2009 United Press International, Inc. All Rights Reserved.
Order reprints



Additional News Stories
NBA: Orlando 97, Los Angeles Clippers 86
Japan's quarterly growth revised downard
NHL Anaheim 4, Dallas 3 (OT)
Casual sex may not be emotionally damaging
NBA: Dallas 102, Phoenix 101
NBA: New Orleans 96, Sacramento 94
NBA: Memphis 111, Cleveland 109
fark
Woman arrested for sneak attack on boyfriend. Wait. No. Woman arrested for STEAK attack on boyfriend....
War veteran is allowed to keep his flag on his lawn
In a stunning turn of events, H1N1 may be less severe than feared, only slightly more deadly than...
Amtrak sets record as Americans take average of 0.0023 trips each during Thanksgiving week
"Food swaps" catching on among groups whose members enjoy cooking large batches of food and swapping...
Hipsters and Hasids battle over bike paths on Bedford Avenue in Brooklyn