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Islamabad: Troops stepped up security on a road leading to a key insurgent stronghold near the Afghan border even as a militant attack left at least one soldier dead near a police station in the northwestern region yesterday.
The incidents reflect the uncertain progress of peace negotiations launched by the new federal government, which US officials worry will ease the pressure on Taliban and Al Qaida militants.
The army said the slain soldier was shot while manning a checkpoint in Kabbal, a town in the Swat valley. An army statement said gunmen had targeted a police station in the town but ended up hitting the checkpoint. Another soldier was wounded, it said.
Girls' school targeted
Meanwhile, police officer Jan Bahadur said militants burned down six rooms, including furniture and records at a girls' high school in another Swat town, Matta. A girls' school had been damaged in an arson attack in a nearby village the previous day, Bahadur said.
A ceasefire of sorts between the militants and the new government appears snagged on demands for a swift withdrawal of the army from the wild tribal regions along the frontier as well as from Swat.
The valley was a tourist destination, until armed supporters of a pro-Taliban cleric campaigning for the enforcement of Islamic law tried to seize control last year.
Musharraf deployed the army, which claims to have cleared most of the area of militants, but officials have said that Fazlullah is resisting efforts to persuade him to lay down arms and join peace talks.
The government is also trying to secure a peace agreement in South Waziristan, a lawless region on the border. But the army appeared yesterday to have reversed a recent relaxation of security in that area.
Army spokesman Maj Gen Athar Abbas said yesterday that troops had stepped up checking of vehicles on the main road leading into South Waziristan after receiving information that militants were favouring the route.
South Waziristan is the stronghold of Baitullah Mehsud, a top Taliban commander whom the previous government had blamed for the assassination of former premier Benazir Bhutto.
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