Gun battles between local tribesmen and Uzbek al-Qaeda militants
in the tribal area of South Waziristan in Pakistan grew in
intensity on Thursday, with the body count rising to 126 after
three days of clashes, Aaj TV had officials as saying. Further
reports stated that 70 foreigners had been arrested as attempts to
broker a cease-fire continued.
Earlier on Thursday, Pakistani Interior Minister Aftab Sherpao
had put at 114 the number of people slain.
Sherpao had stated that 84 Uzbek militants and 30 local
tribesmen, including nine civilians, had lost their lives during
three days of fighting in the tribal area of South Waziristan.
Both sides were trading mortar, rocket and assault rifle fire in
four separate areas of South Waziristan. Militant leaders and
tribal elders from North Waziristan had previously attempted to
bring about a ceasefire but the clashes again broke out Monday.
Pakistan's government, a key ally in the US-led war on
terrorism, has long asked tribesmen to oust Central Asia and Arab
militants from their lands Waziristan, but with little success so
far. Pakistan's tribal regions were a key escape route for al-Qaeda
following the fall of the Taliban in Afghanistan in 2001. The
region is still rumored to be a hidden base for al-Qaida leaders
like Osama bin Laden and Ayman al-Zawahri. Furthermore, Waziristan
has been a staging post for Taliban-led attacks on NATO and US
soldiers across the border.
While the cause for the fighting in South Waziristan remains
unclear, the Uzbek casualties could ease worry for Pakistan, amidst
US reports that al-Qaeda is regrouping.
(Xinhua News Agency, China Daily via agencies, March
22, 2007)
