More than 500 militants have already left
Pakistani Taliban say they will withdraw their fighters from Buner, a district only 100 km from the capital that they effectively took over earlier this week. Their advance had greatly disturbed the United States, with Secretary of State Hillary Clinton accusing Pakistan of posing a “mortal threat” to the world by abdicating to the Taliban. U.S. Secretary of Defense Robert Gates warned Islamabad that relations between Pakistan and the United States would be threatened unless Pakistan’s government confronted the Taliban’s spread. A Taliban spokesman said the movement’s fighters would leave the district by Saturday. Pakistani television has shown footage of what appears to be Taliban withdrawing, and Al Jazeera reports that up to 500 Taliban militants have already left.