The most powerful militant leader in North Waziristan has threatened to tear up a peace accord and turn his fighters against the government. Hafiz Gul Bahadur has an unofficial non-aggression pact with the military, focusing instead on attacking US troops in Afghanistan. Bahadur is known to have links with notorious militant groups in North Waziristan, including the Haqqani network, which has emerged as the most high-profile threat to US forces in Afghanistan. Bahadur criticised Pakistani leaders for allowing the US to conduct drone missile strikes in North Waziristan and said the council of militant groups he heads would no longer hold talks with the government. “We have been showing patience because of problems being faced by common people but now the government has also resorted to repression on our common people at the behest of foreigners,” Bahadur, who heads a Pakistani Taliban faction, said in a statement distributed in North Waziristan. He accused the government of firing mortar bombs and cannons on civilians and demolishing a hospital and other buildings in North Waziristan. Army officials were not immediately available for comment. Local military officials said “terrorists” had used public buildings to launch rocket attacks at military checkpoints.
