Mortal threat,says US,as Pak troops rush to stop Taliban

Tightening their grip on Pakistans restive northwest,Taliban militants today attacked the Frontier Constabulary sent to stop their advance in Buner....

Tightening their grip on Pakistans restive northwest,Taliban militants today attacked the Frontier Constabulary sent to stop their advance in Buner,just 100 km from Islamabad,and swept into Shangla,another district near the Swat Valley. One policeman was killed and another wounded in the attack in Buner while tension gripped Shangla after more than 30 Taliban fighters moved in and began patrolling a market in the area.

As US mounted pressure on Pakistan to act against the Taliban US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton told lawmakers in Washington I think the Pakistani government is basically abdicating to the Taliban and the extremists while Defense Secretary Robert Gates warned that failure to confront the threat could affect US-Pakistani relations Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani said his government would consider other options to check the Talibanisation.

Swats militants have entered Buner in large numbers,establishing checkpoints,patrolling roads and spreading fear. Six Frontier Constabulary platoons arrived in Buner yesterday,said Syed Mohammed Javed,an official who oversees the area covered by the peace deal. Today,gunmen opened fire on a security convoy that included the Frontier Constabulary. The gunfire killed an escorting police officer and wounded another in the Totalai area,said Hukam Khan,an area police official.

Maj Gen Athar Abbas,Pakistan Armys chief spokesman,insisted the situation in Buner was not as dire as some portrayed,saying militants were in control of less than 25 per cent of the district,mostly its north. We are fully aware of the situation, Abbas said. The other side has been informed to move these people out of this area.

Pakistans army has thousands of troops in Swat but none in Buner. Many police and government officials in Buner appear to have either fled or are keeping a low profile. A police official told the AP that the militants in Buner were broadcasting sermons by radio and warning barbers to stop shaving mens beards. The militants have established a base in the village of Sultanwas and have set up positions in the nearby hills,the official said. Istiqbal Khan,a lawmaker from Buner,said the insurgents have established checkpoints and patrols.