Pakistan Peace Deal Threatened Amid Attacks

Clashes in a northwestern region covered by an increasingly fragile peace pact killed seven militants and one soldier Monday, authorities said, adding to strains on an agreement seen in the West as a capitulation to extremists.Washington has said it wants Pakistan to fight the militants, not talk to them, and is unlikely to mourn the three-month-old deal in the Malakand region if it breaks down. Still, many in the staunchly Islamic region have welcomed the pause in hostilities even though it did not lead to the eviction of the Taliban.The deal will feature in talks between Pakistani President Asif Ali Zardari and President Obama later this week in Washington where Zardari is also expected to ask for more money to help his country's battered economy and under-equipped security forces.Under the deal, the government agreed to impose Islamic law in the districts that make up Malakand in hopes that the militants would lay down their arms. But the Taliban in Swat, the movement's stronghold, did not lay down their weapons and were emboldened, soon entering the adjacent Buner district to impose their harsh brand of Islam.The proximity of Buner to the capital of Islamabad raised alarms domestically and abroad. Pakistan's military went on the offensive over the past week to drive the Taliban out. On Monday, security forces killed seven insurgents in an attack on a hide-out there, the military said in a statement, bringing to almost 90 the number of insurgents slain since the operations began. Thousands of civilians have fled the region.