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Pakistan warns its cross-border militants

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PESHAWAR, Pakistan — Pakistan's Taliban militants threatened to attack the government of the insurgency-racked North West Frontier province unless it resigns, a move that threw the country into a new security crisis.

Baitullah Mehsud, the warlord who leads the growing Taliban movement in Pakistan, Thursday gave the administration of the North West Frontier province five days to cease military operations against Taliban groups and demonstrate its "sincerity" in peace talks.

"We will attack the provincial government and the ANP (Awami National Party) leaders after five days if they do not quit (office)," said Maulvi Omar, spokesman for Mehsud, a warlord based in the tribal area of Waziristan.

"The provincial government is playing games with us. It is not sincere in the talks."

Mehsud, whom the Pakistan government has linked to al-Qaida, recently described suicide attackers as "our atom bombs," raising the possibility of targeted killings of provincial political leaders.

Pakistan President Pervez Musharraf has accused Mehsud of organizing the assassination of former Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto.

U.S. officials say Mehsud's Pakistan Taliban have mounted forays into Afghanistan, attacking NATO forces and the U.S.-backed government of Hamid Karzai.

The showdown undercut the controversial national and provincial government policy of seeking peace deals with militants, which Washington has sharply criticized.

The secular ANP, which has pacifist roots, has promoted negotiation with militant groups since coming to office in February elections.

But in two parts of the province, Swat Valley and Hangu district, which is on the edge of the lawless tribal belt, the government has called on the army and paramilitary forces to combat local insurgent groups that are allied to Mehsud's Tehreek-i-Taliban Pakistan.

The party now finds itself up against the hard reality of militants who demand Islamic law and the retreat of the Pakistan army from their territory.

"This is open war," said Hassan Abbas, a research fellow at Harvard University. "This (ultimatum) will help the provincial government to see things more clearly. They can now take direct action against Baitullah Mehsud because there is a direct threat."

Separately, the Pakistan army announced Friday that it had killed 10 Taliban-linked militants in Hangu, while five troops were wounded. The army said it would continue the operation until the insurgents were "mopped up."