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.

The government says the bloodshed is evidence that doubts about its commitment to fighting terrorism and extremism are misplaced.

“The people of South Waziristan now have risen against the foreigners,” Musharraf said in a speech at a military conference in Islamabad.

“They have killed about 300 of them, and they got support from the Pakistan army. They asked for support.”

“We are demanding the same in North Waziristan, and there are indications the same may happen there also,” he said.

The toll given by Musharraf is far higher than figures given by Pakistani army officials to journalists on a trip to South Waziristan on Wednesday. They said that between 150 and 230 militants had died in the fighting, and about 40 tribesmen.

Poor security in the region has scared off reporters and there are minimal telephone links, making it virtually impossible to verify the tally offered by officials.

Army officials had previously denied any direct involvement in the fighting — saying the campaign was the work of tribesmen angered by killings and other criminal acts by the Uzbeks.

The offensive has improved security around the main town in South Waziristan, Wana, but concerns remain that it could empower local pro-Taliban militants in the tribal militia, who support the jihad or holy war against NATO and US forces in Afghanistan.

Addressing an audience including senior US military officers, Musharraf did not elaborate on the fighting in South Waziristan or his forces’ involvement.

He provided a robust defence, however, of Pakistan’s approach to combating terrorists and extremists.

Pakistan had detained 700 al-Qaida “kingpins” who fled to Pakistan from Afghanistan after the US. invasion, and has lost 500 soldiers in operations against militants in remote valleys near the border, he said.

The fighting in Waziristan showed the government’s decision, last year, to scale back those operations and charge tribal leaders with countering militancy in return for development aid was correct, he said.