Taliban militants in Pakistan’s northern Swat valley were refusing to lay down their arms on Sunday as part of an agreement with authorities in the country’s North-West Frontier Province, prompting fears of fresh fighting between the two sides.

As the regional government said it was fulfilling its side of the controversial deal, by setting up an Islamic sharia appellate court for the area, a senior government official argued the Taliban’s refusal to disarm had put the patience of authorities “at great stress”.