Truce Over, Pakistan Militants Kill 70

Pakistans paramilitary troops stand alert behind a makeshift bunker along the road side in Swat, a mountainous area of Pakistans North West Frontier Province bordering Afghanistan, Saturday, July 14, 2007. Three roadside bombs struck a military convoy in northwestern Pakistan Sunday, killing at least 14 troops and civilians in an intensifying militant campaign of violence against the government in the restive border region, the army spokesman said. (AP Photo/Musa Khan) (Musa Khan - AP)

The region along Pakistan's border with Afghanistan has seen increased activity by local militants, the Taliban, and _ according to a recent U.S. assessment _ al-Qaida.

One of the army's apparent targets is Maulana Fazlullah, a radical cleric who has pressed for Taliban-style rule in Pakistan _ much like the leaders of the Red Mosque. Fazlullah was accused of telling supporters to prepare for jihad, or holy war, to avenge the mosque assault.

Intelligence officials in Swat say Fazlullah announced on an FM radio station Saturday night that he was fleeing to avoid arrest.

A document announcing the end of the peace pact in North Waziristan was passed around in the bazaar in Miran Shah. The signatories referred to themselves as the Taliban, a term commonly used by militants in northwest Pakistan, though their links with the Taliban fighting in neighboring Afghanistan are murky.

Under the Sept. 5, 2006, truce, the Pakistan army pulled back to barracks tens of thousands of troops that had been involved in bloody operations against suspected Taliban and al-Qaida hideouts, and militants agreed to halt attacks in Pakistan and over the border against foreign troops in Afghanistan. Tribal elders were supposed to police the deal.

Musharraf had clung to the agreement and similar pacts in neighboring areas, arguing that, by empowering tribal leaders to police their own fiefdoms in return for development aid, they offered the only chance of bringing long-term stability.

However, critics have argued that Musharraf's decision to cut a deal effectively handed the Taliban and al-Qaida a safe haven from which to plot attacks in Pakistan, Afghanistan and in the West.

____

Associated Press writers Zarar Khan and Sadaqat Jan in Islamabad, Bashirullah Khan in Miran Shah and Ishtiaq Mahsun in Dera Ismail Khan contributed to this report.