Swat Taliban declared an indefinite ceasefire in the valley on Tuesday, and freed four policemen and three Frontier Constabulary troops. The decision was made in a meeting of the Taliban shura (council) on Tuesday, Taliban spokesman Muslim Khan said.Taliban chief Mullah Fazlullah announced the decision in a speech that was cut short when the security forces blocked the transmission of his FM radio channel. He asked his men to stop displaying weapons, end their armed patrols and not to attack security convoys or abduct government officials, according to copies of the speech sent to the media.
He urged the government to restore all officials removed during the unrest in Swat.
A private TV channel said the security forces had imported equipment to jam the radio transmission and used it for the first time on Tuesday.
Fazlullah ordered his commanders to disband their checkpoints, which he said created "unnecessary problems" for residents. Taliban had set up checkpoints in several areas of Swat where they checked all travellers. One security official expressed hope that the illegal checkpoints would be removed following the speech.
The Taliban chief also stopped all non-government organisations from operating in the valley until sharia law's implementation. "All NGOs should leave Swat because they are creating problems for peace," Fazlullah said in the speech. But he added that emergency medical crews were exempt from the order.
It is not clear how many charities operate in the valley.
Fazlullah called on soldiers deployed in Swat to remain at their bases, vowing to retaliate against any troop increases.