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Sufi threatens to abandon Swat ‘peace mission’

* Sufi Muhammad accuses govt of violating truce
* Taliban kill 2 soldiers, Swat peace deal in jeopardy
* Army rejects Sufi’s charge

Staff Report

MINGORA: The Swat peace deal was dealt a serious blow when suspected Taliban ambushed a security vehicle, killing two troops and injuring an officer on Tuesday as pro-Taliban cleric Sufi Muhammad threatened to abandon his ‘peace mission’.

“We suffered two casualties in the unprovoked ambush on our convoy in Matta tehsil,” military spokesman Maj Gen Athar Abbas told Daily Times over the telephone from Rawalpindi. He said the provincial government had been told of the attack.

Responsibility: According to the AP news agency, a Taliban spokesman took responsibility for the attack. “Security forces are making movements without any prior information, which force Taliban to carry out attacks,” said Muslim Khan. “We do reserve a right to defend ourselves,” he added.

“We had an agreement that whenever (the) army wanted to move, they should inform us, so that we can alert our men not to feel threatened,” Muslim Khan told the AFP news agency.

According to AFP, another security official claimed the soldiers were attacked by men loyal to commander Ibne Ameen, who has opposed the peace agreement.

Threat: The attack on the security convoy came as Sufi Muhammad – credited with brokering the peace deal with the Taliban and the government on the basis of the implementation of shariah in Malakand division – also accused the government of violating the truce. “I will abandon efforts for peace if the security forces and the government continue violations of the peace accord,” Sufi said at a press conference.

He said he was satisfied with the way Mullah Fazlullah, Sufi’s son-in-law, was leading the Swat Taliban. “The Taliban are doing nothing wrong ... the government is responsible for violations.”

Denial: Spokesman Abbas, however, denied that the army had violated the truce. “We did inform the peace committee about our movement, but it cannot accompany us everywhere,” he said.

Local sources said security forces fired at Taliban positions after the ambush, and a person was unofficially reported killed.

Official sources in Peshawar said certain quarters within the Swat Taliban “do not support the truce, and Sufi Muhammad is unlikely to succeed against those who are still armed”.

“There are elements with the Taliban who are unhappy with what Sufi Muhammad is doing for peace. We are concerned by their ability to harm the chief of the banned Tehreek Nifaz-e-Shariat-e-Muhammadi chief,” the sources told Daily Times.

Meanwhile, suspected Taliban kidnapped NWFP Anti-Corruption Department head Yamin Khan, but freed him a few hours later, officials in Mingora confirmed to Daily Times. Earlier, Swat DCO Khushal Khan was kidnapped by the Taliban.

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