Pakistani tribesmen avenging a mosque attack surrounded two militant strongholds and destroyed the homes of some Taliban commanders, an official said yesterday as the death toll in the fighting hit 13.
As many as 1,600 tribesmen have joined a citizens’ militia in Upper Dir district — an indication of rising anti-Taliban sentiment in Pakistan as the military pursues its offensive against the militant group in the nearby Swat Valley.
The militias, known as lashkar, were focusing on two villages known as Taliban strongholds, said Khaista Rehman, a local police chief. Officials said Sunday the tribesmen had managed to clear three other villages.
PHOTO: REUTERS
“An intense fight between the lashkar and the Taliban is still going on and the lashkar has destroyed 25 homes of Taliban commanders and their fighters in various villages,” Rehman said by phone. “The Taliban had set up their offices in those villages but the local residents and the lashkar have attacked them, and we hope the lashkar will succeed.”
The attack on the mosque on Friday left 33 worshippers dead and wounded dozens more during prayers, angering residents of the Haya Gai area of Upper Dir district, where minor clashes with local militants have occurred for months.
Including 11 militants killed over the weekend, the insurgent death toll reached 13 yesterday, senior police official Nawaz Khan said. Two tribesmen were wounded during yesterday’s fighting in the two villages.
The government has encouraged citizens to set up militias to oust Taliban fighters, especially in the regions that border Afghanistan where al-Qaeda and the Taliban have hide-outs. But villagers’ willingness to do so has often hinged on confidence that authorities will back them up if necessary.
With the army reporting advances against the Taliban in Swat — an operation that also reaches into Lower Dir district and has broad public support — that confidence appears to be growing.
Already, military officials say that as they’ve proceeded with the operation in Swat, local residents who have remained in the region have grown increasingly cooperative, providing tips on militants’ hide-outs and more.
The month-old Swat offensive, the latest round in a valley that has experienced fighting for two years, is seen as a test of Pakistan’s resolve to take on al-Qaeda and Taliban fighters on its soil.
The US hopes the offensive will eliminate a potential sanctuary for militants implicated in attacks on Western forces across the border in Afghanistan.
The military says more than 1,300 militants and 105 soldiers have died so far in the offensive, which has generally broad public support. The Taliban have threatened to stage suicide attacks in major Pakistani cities in revenge for the Swat operation.
Also yesterday, the leader of a Taliban faction at odds with Pakistani Taliban chief Baitullah Mehsud denounced Mehsud for staging attacks inside the country — a sign of rivalries within the collection of groups identified as the Taliban.
In an interview Qari Zainuddin urged tribal leaders to resist Mehsud and said his fighters would stay neutral if the army launches an operation in South Waziristan, Mehsud’s stronghold.
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