Taliban attack convoy, threatening peace deal

Taliban militants attacked an army convoy today in a north-western region covered by an increasingly fragile peace pact, killing one soldier and dealing another blow to an agreement seen in the West as a capitulation to extremists.

The Swat peace deal and Islamabad’s patchy attempts to fight surging militancy will feature in talks between Pakistani President Asif Ali Zardari and President Barack Obama later this week in Washington. Zardari is expected to ask for more money to help Pakistan’s battered economy and under-equipped security forces.