This is not good

A senior Pakistani government official has urged residents of the Swat valley to flee the troubled region in the northwest where a peace deal with Taliban appears to be crumbling amid intense fighting.

Khushal Khan also said that the authorities in the North West Frontier Province (NWFP) had issued an appeal for help to house tens of thousands of refugees fleeing the fighting between government troops and Taliban fighters in Buner.

Khan said on Tuesday that people should flee for their own safety because Taliban fighters were roaming the area and planting mines and that security forces might be forced to retaliate.

His call came as the Taliban warned the peace deal agreed by the government and Taliban fighters was close to collapse.