Pakistan militant threatens to break peace

[November 12, 2011]  PARACHINAR, Pakistan (AP) -- A militant commander in a restive Pakistani region along the Afghan border has threatened to scrap a unofficial peace deal with the army.

Hafiz Gul Bahadur cited U.S. missile strikes and shelling by the army as the reason for his threat in a statement distributed Saturday in Miran Shah town in North Waziristan.

Bahadur was referring to a reported arrangement by which Pakistan's army doesn't attack him or his fighters, who focus their attacks on U.S. and NATO troops across the border in Afghanistan instead of on Pakistani forces.

Washington has urged Islamabad to crack down on Bahudur and other commanders that who attack into Afghanistan.

Pakistan's army is prioritizing fighting the Pakistani Taliban, which has declared war on the state and has carried out hundreds of suicide attacks around the country.

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THIS IS A BREAKING NEWS UPDATE.
AP's earlier story is below.

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PESHAWAR, Pakistan (AP) -- Police say a bomb has exploded at a police checkpoint in northwestern Pakistan, killing one officer and wounding two others.

Local police officer Zahir Shah says the bomb went off at a barricade outside a mud-brick police post on Saturday in the town of Shabqadar, which lies close to the Mohmand tribal region.

The area is a hotbed for militants fighting the government, and has witnessed many such attacks in recent years.

In May, a pair of suicide bombers targeted recruits as they were leaving the main paramilitary training center of Shabqadar, killing 80 people. The Pakistani branch of the Taliban militant organization claimed responsibility.

[Associated Press; By HUSSAIN AFZAL]

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