NEW YORK, April 23 After taking over Buner the Taliban roll into Mardan and that's the end of the game, a senior Pakistani law-enforcement official in the NWFP told The New York Times on Wednesday.

The report claimed that when the Taliban entered Buner, the Pakistan army did not put up a defence apparently abiding by the agreement signed by the government in Swat.

Local politician Jamsher Khan told NYT that people were initially determined to resist the Taliban in Buner, but that they were discouraged by the deal the government struck with the Taliban in Swat.

“We felt stronger as long we thought the government was with us,” he said by telephone, “but when the government showed weakness, we too stopped offering resistance to the Taliban.”

The newspaper said the takeover of Buner was particularly significant because the people there have tried last year to stand up to the Taliban by establishing small private armies to fight the militants. Last year when the militants encroached into Buner, killing policemen, the local people fought back and forced the militants out.

Buner is a gateway to Mardan, the second largest city in the NWFP, after Peshawar.

The Wall Street Journal reported that “militants have been moving into Buner since the Swat peace deal was signed with the government in February. But starting Tuesday night they seized control of the entire district, which has a population of more than one million people. Heavily armed militants streaming in from Swat, occupied government offices and set up their own checkposts. Terrified residents fled their homes.”

The NYT reported that staff members of local non-governmental organisations had been ordered to leave, and their offices had been looted.