5000 Pakistani tribesmen enlist to fight militants

Society Pakistan & World Affairs
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Finally, after all these years the people of FATA are rising in their thousands and thousands to fight for Pakistan aganist the foreign militants. :jhanda:

Thousands of Pakistani tribesmen enlist to fight militants

Around 5,000 tribesmen gathered in a Pakistani border area Monday to enlist for ongoing battles against foreign Al-Qaeda militants, officials and witnesses said. The jirga or tribal assembly was called by a pro-government chief and former Taliban commander following two weeks of pitched battles in the South Waziristan region during which more than 200 people have died.** The Pakistani government says the efforts to drive the Uzbek, Chechen and Arab militants from the area show the success of Islamabad’s peace deals with formerly Taliban-supporting tribesmen .“We should fight against the foreigners as one nation. They have created so many problems for us,” witnesses quoted the tribal commander, Mullah Nazir, as telling the gathering**. Officials say the foreign insurgents, who are accused of leading attacks on NATO and US forces in Afghanistan, number around 500. Most fled Afghanistan after the 2001 fall of the Taliban regime. Nazir and other chiefs said they would gather a tribal army known as a lashkar on Tuesday morning in Wana to fight the foreign militants. They called on tribesmen in the neighbouring towns of Tank and Dera Ismail Khan, which are officially outside the semi-autonomous Pakistani tribal belt, to join in. The council also warned local tribesmen not to support foreigners or else their homes would be burnt, they would face a one million rupee (16,394 dollar) fine and they would be expelled from the area, a local tribesman told AFP.

http://www.dawn.com/2007/04/01/welcome.htm

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Re: 5000 Pakistani tribesmen enlist to fight militants

While 80,000 army troops are hiding in barracks sadly.

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Re: 5000 Pakistani tribesmen enlist to fight militants

^
They are busy patrolling the borders between Afghanistan and Pakistan and assisting the tribals where necessary. I would not always trust news correspondents who have never even been to the area. The Pakistan govt's policy from day one has always been to encourage the tribals to expel these foreigners, and now they are doing exactly that. That's quite a feather in the cap of the govt's policy.

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Re: 5000 Pakistani tribesmen enlist to fight militants

6 years after 9/11, we have thousands of foreign fighters (living comfortably until recently it seems) in tribal areas and many more local Taliban roaming all over the country all under the nose of the soldiers deployed. We also know that militants routinely cross the border between Afghanistan and Pakistan, and while I agree that this border is not easy to patrol, the problem is the sanctuary to Al Qaeda and Taliban that FATA and rest of Western Pakistan is now.

Whose cap should we put the feathers in?

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If NATO-dominated Afghanistan cannot control the flow of foreign fighters trying to escape into Pakistan, then it their fault - not ours. We are being asked to clear up their mess, and our people have died doing it.

Now thousands and thousands of FATA tribesmen have finally risen against these foreigners, and will surely expel them. Hundreds of foreign fighters have been killied in the last couple of weeks, and others are being hunted down.

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Whats to be happy about? The foreign militants may leave, but then you still have the Taliban to deal with… The Taliban arent going stop fighitng the Americans in Afghanistan, nor are the going to stop spreading their religous terror in FATA and other parts of Pak.

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Re: 5000 Pakistani tribesmen enlist to fight militants

^

Foreigners have no business in Pakistan, especially those who have been terrorizing the population of FATA in recent years. Once they leave you will see a gradual decline in the religious terror across Pakistan. The FATA region has always been a conservative region, and that will always be the case, and they should be allowed to live the way they want.

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Your forgeting about the Taliban, which arent foreigners but locals and Afghan pashtuns... How is anyone going to stop them?

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Re: 5000 Pakistani tribesmen enlist to fight militants

Pakistani tribesmen beat drums of war DERA ISMAIL KHAN, Pakistan, April 3 Reuters) Pakistani tribesmen beat their drums of war for the first time in three years on Tuesday to raise a force to rid their lands on the Afghan border of foreign al Qaeda-linked militants. Ethnic Pashtun tribesmen in Waziristan have not beaten their traditional dhol drums since 2004 because the Islamist militants who have been living in their midst disapproved of music, residents said. “Drums are being beaten in Wana bazaar to mobilise people for the lashkar. People are dancing, they are in high spirits and very enthusiastic,” Noor Ali, a shopkeeper in Wana, the main town in South Waziristan, told Reuters by telephone. Mullah Nazir, a tribal commander leading the campaign, said about 1,500 tribesmen had enlisted in the lashkar in response to his call for jihad against the foreigners, who still have some supporters among the tribes. “We will take action wherever we find the foreigners. We will blow up their hideouts and will take the same action against anyone harbouring them,” Nazir said by telephone. The military says it has not been involved in the fighting which it says shows the government’s policy is working. (Posted @ 16:08 PST)"
http://www.dawn.com/2007/04/03/welcome.htm

I thought drums of war were a figure of speech… Apparently they really have Drums…
Another interesting thing is that they say the foreign militants didnt allow them to play drums? Thats strange since I thought it was the Taliban that had banned the playing of drums?!?!

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Full story…Tribesmen’s call to arms

By Our Correspondent

WANA, April 3: Enthusiastic tribesmen on Tuesday beat ‘war-drums’ to formally ask people to rally to the cause of fighting the Uzbeks out of the restive South Waziristan Agency.

Hundreds of armed tribesmen rallied to the drum-beating called Chagha in local language to flush out the Uzbeks from the tribal region bordering Afghanistan, witnesses and government officials said.

“The drums were beaten after nearly five years. It was really invigorating. And it is significant because of the fact that the tribesmen have done so in the presence of the local Taliban who had prohibited it in the first place,” a source at the Waziristan’s regional headquarters in Wana told Dawn on satellite phone.

The drums were beaten following a jirga of Zallikhel sub-clan of the predominant Ahmadzai Wazir in the Wana region. Yargulkhel sub-clan, which was earlier reluctant to join the anti-Uzbek campaign because of their own commanders siding with the Uzbeks, also sent their representatives in the rally.

Another sub-clan, Taojikhel, also provided 40 volunteers to the tribal lashkar and promised more if needed, the source said.

The jirga followed after weeks of fighting between the Uzbeks and local tribesmen that left over 100 dead and scores injured.

“The winds have changed their course,” the source said. “The game is up for the Uzbeks.”

He said that anti-Uzbek militant commander Maulavi Nazir and tribesmen seized vehicles in Wana to send armed men to fight the Uzbeks off, who were believed to be hiding in certain areas.

The source said that six Uzbeks were killed and two others were captured near the Karikot area of Wana at around 11am on Tuesday.

The number of Uzbek militants in the tribal region varies but security officials said that their number could be little over 1,000 in South Waziristan alone.

Religious leaders declared a jihad against the Uzbek militants on Monday.

Meanwhile, the jirga authorised the tribal lashkar to capture dead or alive the Uzbek militants operating under the command of the Islamic Movement of Uzbekistan leader, Tahir Yuldeshiv.

Sources said that volunteers of the lashkar would be dispatched to Zera Lota, Azam Warsak, Shin Warsak, Ghwakhwa, Jaghundai and other areas and would coordinate with the supporters of Maulvi Nazir.

Maulvi Nazir’s group, which launched a campaign against the Uzbek militants in the agency, has distributed pamphlets in Wana, Azam Warsak and Shin Warsak areas, declaring Tahir Yuldeshiv an agent of America, Russia and Israel.

“Tahir is the agent of the CIA, KGB and MOSAD. His men have killed around 200 innocent in South Waziristan,” said a pamphlet.

http://www.dawn.com/2007/04/04/top6.htm

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The foreigners are being expelled and routed as never before.

Long live Pakistan. :jhanda:

Tribesmen throw out foreigners from Shen Warsak

A Lashkar of local tribesmen threw out foreigners from Shen Warsak area of South Waziristan and re captured the area. 11 foreigners and two tribesmen were killed during battle on Wednesday. Since this morning there have been massive sounds of rockets and gunfire in Shen Warsik area in the vicinity of Wana. Tribal forces have killed 11 foreigners and captured another nine, sources said. Earlier, two tribal commanders Nazir and Sher Khan had said that the operation will be continued till removal of the last foreigner from the area. According to reports, foreigners have attacked local tribesmen in Dassa Gandi area but no loss of life was reported immediately.

http://thenews.jang.com.pk/updates.asp#20460

65 killed as Pakistani tribesmen fight foreign militants

At least 65 people were killed Wednesday in Pakistan’s South Waziristan tribal region after hundreds of locals launched a renewed offensive to expel foreign militants from the area, the private Aaj news channel said. Skirmishes between tribesmen and suspected al-Qaeda fighters were continuing across the rugged mountainous region where more than 900 armed people assembled the previous day to carry out blitzes on the outsiders. The tribesmen killed 25 combatants in their attack on the village of Yaghunde only a few kilometres outside South Waziristan’s administrative centre of Wana, according to Aaj. Another assault in the Shin Warsak area, located some 8 kilometres west of Wana, left 20 foreign militants dead while the attacking tribes also suffered five casualties. The news channel said tribesmen gained control of the area after the encounter. Heavy guns and rocket-propelled grenades were used by both sides in clashes that occurred after pro-government elders this week declared their intention to fight mostly Uzbek and Chechen militants who had fled to the region from neighbouring Afghanistan since 2001.

More than 250 fighters were also killed last month in South Waziristan in similar operations. Hundreds of Taliban and al-Qaeda combatants are reportedly present in Pakistan’s tribal territory where state authorities have little administrative control. The government has signed controversial peace accords with tribesmen in the area that is regarded as a safe haven for fighters fleeing US-led coalition troops and Afghan forces. ** Though the treaties have drawn international criticism, Islamabad says tribesmen taking up arms against foreign militants and their local supporters show that the deals are achieving their objectives.**

http://news.monstersandcritics.com/southasia/news/article_1286944.php/65_killed_as_Pakistani_tribesmen_fight_foreign_militants

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Patriotic Pakistani Pashtun Tribals are finally obliterating Al Qaida militants in Waziristan.

Pakistan tribal assault leaves 250 dead in a month

Pakistani tribesmen beating war drums Wednesday launched their biggest assault yet against foreign Al-Qaeda militants in a border region after weeks of fighting that have left 250 people dead. Islamabad says the offensive by about 1,000 conservative local tribesmen will cut cross-border attacks in Afghanistan, and shows the success of a peace deal in the lawless South Waziristan region that was criticised by the West. Forty-four Uzbek, Chechen and Arab Islamic rebels were killed on Wednesday along with five tribesmen in heavy rocket and mortar clashes, the mountainous region’s top administrator Hussainzada Khan told AFP. “Intense fighting is still going on,” he said. Interior Minister Aftab Sherpao told reporters in Islamabad that the clashes are “the result of the agreements the government made with tribal people in which they pledged to expel foreigners and now they are doing it.” “Around 200 foreign militants have been killed since the start of the fighting and the overall figure including local tribesmen is around 250,” Sherpao said, updating an earlier toll of about 200 dead overall.

The clashes broke out on March 19 when an ex-Pakistani-Taliban commander, Mullah Nazir, ordered foreign militants led by Uzbek extremist Tahir Yuldashev, a one-time confidant of Osama bin Laden, to disarm or leave the area. Thousands of Arab and Central Asian militants were given shelter by Pakistani tribesmen after fleeing Afghanistan when US-led forces toppled the Taliban regime in late 2001, but the two sides have now fallen out violently. Officials say the foreign insurgents are linked to Bin Laden’s Al-Qaeda network and that they are responsible for coordinating attacks across the porous border on NATO and US forces in Afghanistan. Residents and officials said around 1,000 tribesmen answered a call from their leaders and set off from Wana, the capital of South Waziristan, early Wednesday to mount a final push against bunkers occupied by the foreign rebels. “Soon after morning prayers there was a heavy sound of war drums and tribesmen were seen leaving in different directions amid shouts of ‘Allahu Akhbar’ (God is Greatest) and ‘Victory, victory, victory,’” Malik Sangeen Khan, a resident of Wana, told AFP. “Since this morning there have been massive sounds of rockets and gunfire. It is louder even than the Pakistani military operations here in 2004.”

Residents and officials said it was the first time for three years that the ethnic Pashtun tribes have played the war song on the drums made from animal hide stretched over wooden frames. Able-bodied males who refuse to answer the call are fined heavily and their houses are burned down or demolished. “Both sides have been using heavy weapons since this morning and tribal fighters captured important Uzbek bunkers. In one bunker alone 19 foreigners were killed,” one security official said on condition of anonymity. Tribesmen also stationed children at local checkpoints to ensure that people wearing all-covering burqas were women and not foreign militants in disguise trying to flee the area, residents said. Men are not allowed to look under burqas in the conservative region. Pakistan signed peace pacts with pro-Taliban tribesmen in South Waziristan in 2005 and North Waziristan in 2006, leading to military pull-outs. It signed a similar deal in the northwestern Bajaur tribal region last month. NATO members and the United States say attacks on foreign forces in neighbouring Afghanistan have risen as a result of the pacts.

http://news.yahoo.com/s/afp/20070404/wl_afp/pakistanafghanistan_070404153358;_ylt=A0WTUeoF4xNGQ.IAbAUwuecA

Pakistan Har Gaya :crying:
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Re: 5000 Pakistani tribesmen enlist to fight militants

How fickle is politics in the tribal areas, the same folks declared Pak army jawans and Govt out of Islam when they supported thir Uzbek/Al Qaeda guests. What has changed today? Money has changed hands.

I agree with PP1, this patronization of Talibans will come to haunt us in the near future.

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The Patriotic Pakistani Pashtun Tribals are calling on the Pak army to help them finish off the Uzbek terrorists.

Jirga seeks govt’s help to fight Uzbeks

The traditional jirga of Ahmadzai Wazir tribe Thursday sought the government support for the tribal lashkar in its move against Uzbek militants. The demand was made during a meeting held at Wana, the headquarters of South Waziristan Agency. **The jirga, chaired by Malik Sherin Jan Khan, unanimously urged the government to extend manpower and logistic support to the tribal lashkar as due to arms shortage the tribesmen are facing hardships. In this respect, the jirga also asked for security forces cover and ground support to the lashkar. Similarly, the participants of the jirga resolved to continue fighting against the Uzbek militants. In this respect, the jirga decided to initiate an organised operation against the Uzbek militants. Mulla Nazir accused Uzbek militants of working for India and US. Similarly, he also accused them of indulging themselves in un-Islamic acts in the area. Meanwhile, fighting between the local tribesmen and Uzbek militants was going in various places in southwest of Wana. Three bodies of Uzbek militants were recovered from Daza Ghondai area whereas armed tribesmen have initiated door-to-door search in Kaloshah area. According to officials, over 250 persons have been killed in the ongoing fighting. The higher authorities claim that 220 of them are foreigners. **

Staff Reporter from Islamabad adds: As many as 220 foreign militants have been killed so far in the ongoing fighting in South Waziristan, said ISPR Chief Maj Gen Waheed Arshad on Thursday. He said that Arabs were not involved in the Waziristan clashes and most of the foreigners killed were Uzbeks and of other Central Asian origins. Commenting on the ongoing fighting between the local tribesmen and foreign fighters, the military spokesman said that the decision to fight with the aliens in the tribal region was taken by local Wazir tribesmen. He said that local tribes had an agreement with the government that they would not allow anyone to use their territory for the acts of terror.
He said that the local population was displeased with the foreigners, who were intimidating and extorting money from the local people. He said that the government would extend maximum help to the tribesmen if they asked for that. He said that Pakistan had established around 1000 check-posts on the Afghan border to stop any infiltration. In comparison to that, Afghanistan had set up only 100 check-posts on border with Pakistan, he added. He said that Pakistan had repeatedly asked the allied forces in Afghanistan to take effective measures for controlling illegal cross-border movement. Commenting on an attack on recruitment centre in Kharian, he said that probe into this incident was under way.

http://www.nation.com.pk/daily/apr-2007/6/index1.php

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Pak Army moves in as tribals drive out Chechen and Uzbek fighters.

Army deployed in Sheen Warsak

At least 25 more persons including Uzbeks and their local supporters were killed Friday in the continued clashes in Sheen Warsak of South Waziristan Agency. “The fighting is in progress which have claimed at least 25 more lives from both sides of the warring groups,” locals informed The Nation. The deceased also included three government loyal tribesmen, they further said and added the tribesmen also forced the remaining Uzbek militants to leave the area. Meanwhile, three more persons including brother of a pro-government tribal elder and his two other relatives were murdered and their houses were set on fire in Sheen Warsak, South Waziristan Agency. Besides killing the tribal elder Malik Sherin Jan’s brother, Fazl, the Uzbek militants slaughtered Niaz Muhammad and Latt. The tribal elder’s son and nephew were also injured in the attack while the militants set their houses in Dana village of Sheen Warsak. Malik Sherin Jan had led the traditional jirga during a meeting with Assistant Political Agent in Wana on Thursday and sought air and ground support of armed forces against the Uzbek militants. According to eyewitnesses, the Uzbek militants along with their local supporters besieged the houses of Malik Sherin and his relatives and opened firing at them. Malik Sherin has already shifted his family to Wana and only Fazl and two others were guarding the house at the time of the attack. During the operation, the house of Noor Islam, a supporter of the Uzbek militants, was also set on fire. The lashkar is getting stronger with every passing day and has intensified attacks against Uzbek militants.

AFP adds: Soldiers moved into Sheen Warsak cleared of foreign Al-Qaeda militants by tribal fighters, an official said, the first troop movement in the district since a peace agreement was signed with tribesmen in 2005. Troops entered the mountainous Sheen Warsak near Wana, the official said. “Army troops are now in Sheen Warsak to secure the area,” the security official told AFP. The government has denied its troops were involved in fighting that erupted last month as tribesmen, under an agreement with the authorities, took up arms to drive out mainly Uzbek and Chechen fighters.

http://www.nation.com.pk/daily/apr-2007/7/index3.php

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Hundreds of Al Qaida-supporting foreign militants eliminated in recent weeks in a major, major victory for Pakistan, and now the remaining foreigners are leaving for their home countries.

Arabs, Chechens, Turkistani, Tajiks and Uzbeks who came fled to Pakistan after the US bora bora offensive in Afghanistan in 2001, have no business in our country. Now finally we are rid of them!

http://www2.irna.ir/en/news/view/menu-234/0704152829191732.htm
Foreigners leaving Pakistan’s North Waziristan region

Long live Pakistan! :jhanda: