Pakistan claims 300 foreign militants killed by tribesmen

TRIBESMEN have killed about 300 foreign militants during a weeks-long offensive in the mountainous region of Waziristan, near Pakistan’s border with Afghanistan, according to Pakistan’s military leader and president General Pervez Musharraf.

President Musharraf, who is also chief of staff of Parkistan’s armed forces, yesterday acknowledge for the first time that the Wazir clans had received military support.

Fighting began last month in the lawless tribal region near the Afghan border, with Waziri tribesmen targeting militants, mainly Uzbeks, with links to al-Qaida, who have sheltered there since escaping the US-led invasion of Afghanistan in late 2001.