Killings, kidnappings jeopardise Pakistan Swat truce

PESHAWAR, Pakistan — A fragile ceasefire in Pakistan's insurgency-hit Swat valley was hanging by a thread Tuesday after two soldiers were killed in an ambush and suspected Islamists kidnapped two local officials.
Pakistani troops and Taliban fighters traded accusations about violating a two-week ceasefire in the northwest former ski resort -- ripped apart by a brutal insurgency waged by Islamist hardliners trying to enforce Islamic law.
The soldiers were escorting a water tanker in Swat valley's Matta district when a group of militants fired on them, a security official told AFP.
In the ensuing gunfight, which lasted about an hour, three soldiers were wounded, the official added on condition of anonymity.
"Two of the injured soldiers died later at a medical facility," the official told AFP on condition of anonymity.
"The militant attack is a clear violation of the peace agreement. The security forces are exercising restraint and complying with the accord," the military said in a statement.
Muslim Khan, spokesman for Swat militant leader Maulana Fazlullah, said the soldiers were attacked because they moved without giving prior information.
"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," Khan told AFP.
Thousands of Fazlullah's militants have spent nearly two years waging a terrifying campaign to enforce sharia law in the area, beheading opponents, bombing girls' schools, outlawing entertainment and fighting government forces.
The sharia deal triggered alarm in the United States, Europe, Afghanistan and India, amid concerns it will embolden militants throughout the northwest, which is rife with Taliban and Al-Qaeda extremists.
Another security official claimed the soldiers were attacked by men loyal to commander Ibne Ameen, who has opposed the peace deal.
Police said that Taliban militants also kidnapped two anti-corruption department officials and their friend while travelling in the district of Mingora, the main town in Swat.
Provincial director of the anti-corruption department Yameen Khan, his deputy Bakht Zada and a companion were abducted, police chief Dilawar Bangash said.
"The Taliban have kidnapped them and we have launched a search in the area," Bangash told AFP.
The escalating violence came as pro-Taliban cleric Soofi Mohammad threatened to pull the plug on the peace agreement that he negotiated with the government, accusing the military of violating the ceasefire.
Pakistani authorities had already moved Monday to shore up the fragile ceasefire, vowing to appoint Islamic judges by March 15 to head off threats from Mohammad that the agreement was being implemented too slowly.
The truce was jolted Sunday when a paramilitary officer and five bodyguards were briefly kidnapped and soldiers ambushed elsewhere.