Pakistan confirms Swat ceasefire
February 24, 2009
Taliban fighters and the Pakistani government have agreed to a “permanent ceasefire” in the Swat valley following a year of intense fighting in the troubled north-western area, a senior government official said.
The ceasefire follows a controversial peace agreement, announced last Monday, in which the government accepted the introduction of sharia law in the valley. At least 1,200 people have been killed and 250,000 people have fled Swat in the past year.
The Taleban have also destroyed nearly 200 schools, most of them for girls, during a sustained campaign against secular education in Swat.
An earlier peace agreement broke down in mid-2008.
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