Thousands of Pak tribesmen enlist to fight militants
Afp, Wana
Around 5,000 tribesmen gathered in a Pakistani border area yesterday 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.
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