Pakistan militants abandon peace deal

Shah Khalid
Pakistani paramilitary soldiers observe area from a rooftop of a checkpoint at Abbato Karaz village near Chaman, a town in Pakistan, southwest along Afghanistan border, Sunday, June 28, 2009. Pakistani authorities beefed up security and vigilance to nab Taliban militants fleeing neighboring Afghanistan.
By ASIF SHAHZAD; The Associated Press

MIR ALI, Pakistan --
Taliban militants in a Pakistani tribal area bordering Afghanistan say they're scrapping a peace deal with the government.

The decision by insurgents in North Waziristan raises the prospect of wider unrest now that the army is stepping up offensives against the Taliban.

The peace pact was reached in February 2008, but few details have been publicly released about it. It was struck with a Taliban faction led by Hafiz Gul Bahadur.

The pact appeared to keep things more peaceful in North Waziristan than neighboring South Waziristan, where the army plans its next major offensive.

Bahadur spokesman Ahmadullah Ahmadi said Monday that U.S. missile strikes and army operations prompted the Taliban faction to end the accord.