Taliban's Buner Retreat Leaves Local Recruits in Charge

MULTAN, Pakistan April 24, 2009— -- Taliban militants who overran a district just 60 miles from Islamabad left the area today, but not before creating a local Taliban force to keep control, according to residents.

The Taliban who will now patrol the Buner district of the North West Frontier Province represent a new tactic for the surging militancy in Pakistan, allowing a core group of militant Taliban to travel and spread their influence while placing areas they've already occupied under the command of a new generation of local recruits.

For three weeks Taliban fighters based in the Swat valley have moved in and out of the formerly peaceful area of Buner, largely thanks to a new agreement signed by the government placing a third of the Northwest Frontier Province under Islamic law.

Once they arrived in Buner, which is only a few hours drive from the capital, the Taliban did not stay long, but left behind recruiters to train a homegrown corps of Islamic fighters.

The Taliban returned in large numbers this week, to the alarm of the U.S. and Pakistani governments. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton accused Pakistan of "abdicating" to the Taliban, while the local government responded by sending about 250 paramilitary troops into Buner to try and secure government buildings and bridges, according to the Pakistani military. The Taliban immediately ambushed the paramilitary forces as they arrived, killing one police officer guarding the convoy in a brief firefight.

The well-publicized announcement that a group of Taliban militants would leave Buner came during a visit by Sufi Muhammad, the government-sponsored Taliban negotiator who once led thousands of militants into Afghanistan to fight U.S. troops. Muhammad did not mention the local Taliban who would stay in Buner, but area residents confirmed their presence.

Army chief Gen. Parvez Kayani, perhaps the most powerful man in the country, defended the military's actions in the northwest today, calling a lack of military action against the Taliban an "operational pause."