Pakistan Tribesmen Fight Taliban, Al Qaeda

Government Hails Tribal Coalitions As Sign Of Success, Analysts Doubt Positive Results

(CBS/AP)  Pakistani tribesmen are raising armies to battle al Qaeda and Taliban militants close to the Afghan border - a movement encouraged by the military and hailed as a sign its offensive there is succeeding.

The often ramshackle forces lend force to the campaign in the lawless and mountainous northwest region, but analysts question their effectiveness against a well-armed, well-trained and increasingly brutal insurgency.

The extremists are increasingly targeting the tribal militias, an indication they believe the private armies to be a threat.

On Monday morning, pro-government tribesmen exchanged fire with militants in the Nawa and Kotkai areas of Bajur, tribal elder Nazi Jan said. Four militants and two tribesmen were fatally wounded, he said.

Clashes between Taliban militants and pro-government forces killed 15 people overnight in a Pakistani region on the border with Afghanistan, an official and a tribal elder said Monday.

Security forces fired mortar and artillery rounds at militants in the Charmang area of the Bajur region overnight, killing nine insurgents, government official Jamil Khan said.

On Friday, a suicide bomber killed more than 50 tribesmen gathering to form an army. Eight pro-government tribesmen have been beheaded in recent days.

By encouraging the private armies, or "lashkars," the government is exploiting local resentment against foreign and Pakistani extremists in the area, considered a likely hiding place for Osama bin Laden and other al Qaeda leaders.

"These Taliban call themselves Muslims, but they have been involved in all kinds of crimes," said Malik Mohmmand Habib, a leader of the Salarzai tribe, one of the largest of at least five tribes who have formed lashkars in recent weeks. "We want them out of our area."

Habib claims there are up to 15,000 men in his lashkar. Similar figures have been given by other leaders of private armies but those claims could not be independently verified. Analysts caution tribesmen are likely exaggerating, perhaps by as much as 50 percent.

The lashkars have drawn comparisons with government-backed militia in Iraq - the so-called awakening councils - that have been credited with beating back the insurgency there.

But the lashkars are less organized and the tribesmen use their own, often aging, weapons. The government does not admit to funding the armies, but analysts suspect the leaders at least receive money.

It is also unclear how much front-line fighting the lashkars are involved in. They have been photographed on patrol with military units and reportedly have been involved in several clashes, but their main task appears to be holding areas the army has cleared of insurgents.

Army spokesman Maj. Gen. Athar Abbas praised the formation of the private armies, but gave few details of how they operate.

Shuja Nawaz, a prominent Pakistani security analyst, said the tribesmen are joining the fight against the insurgents because they are unhappy with the presence of the militants in their region. He stressed the government must quickly build roads, schools and undertake other development projects in the tribal areas to cement the successes.

"It is a continuation of the British colonial tradition of paying off the tribes," said Nawaz, adding that historically such deals to buy loyalty often broke down.

CBS News reporter Sami Yousafzai in Peshawar also questioned the efficacy of pitting some loyal tribes against others in the tumultuous border region.

"Certainly there would be civil war between tribes if some of the tribes are supporting the Taliban and some are paid off by Pakistan and the U.S.," said Yousafzai. "It would provide more opportunity for al Qaeda to gain presence in the area and the government would certainly not be in control."

Militants in the border region are blamed for surging violence against U.S. and NATO troops in Afghanistan, leading to fears that the war there is unwinnable seven years after the Taliban was ousted.

With U.S. and NATO forces suffering their deadliest year so far in Afghanistan, a rising chorus of voices, including Defense Secretary Robert Gates and Gen. Petraeus, have endorsed efforts to reach out to members of the Taliban considered willing to seek an accommodation with President Hamid Karzai's government.

They are also behind an increasingly virulent campaign of suicide attacks on Western, civilian and military targets within Pakistan that threatens to destabilize the nuclear-armed country.

Pakistan's broadly secular, pro-U.S. government is trying to channel public anger at those attacks, including the Sept. 20 blast at the Marriott hotel in the capital, Islamabad, into support for its fight against terrorism.

Seeking to overcome a common perception that the fight is America's war, the government often holds up the emergence of the tribal armies as proof that locals are behind the campaign.

That task has become increasingly complicated by suspected U.S. missile strikes within Pakistani territory that are believed to have killed more than 100 people, mostly alleged militants.

The latest barrage, reported Sunday, in Pakistan's northwest killed five people, none of whom was believed to be a foreign al Qaeda fighter, officials said.

Some fear the lashkars could become a problem in the future with the private armies turning on each other or on the state itself.

"You are creating a very polarized society that doesn't auger well for the stability of the area," said Rustam Shah Mohmand, former ambassador to Afghanistan and political commentator. "I think this leads to a very, very confusing situation as far as law and order is concerned."

Since last year, the militants have taken over large swaths of the tribal region, a 10,425 square mile patch of rugged land where the government has never had much control.

Responding to U.S. pressure, the army launched a major offensive in early August in the Bajur tribal region, where it claims to have killed more than 1,000 militants.

Despite that operation, U.S. officials and others in the region allege that elements within Pakistan's army and spy agency are supporting the militants, in part because they believe the country's strategic interests are best served by an unstable Afghanistan.

[winnerindia]

strange that any positive development out of Pakistan has to be a storry hidden deep inside whereas everything negative about pakistan has to be a headline on CBS....no wonder this channel is going out of business

so where are the vocal indians and rednecks on this story?

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Posted by mabangash at 07:08 PM : Oct 13, 2008


It''''s not CBS , it''''s Pakistanis.
95% Pakistanis have their sympathies with terrorists so one can''''t trust whatever +tive news comes from them. That nation is not trust worthy at all.
There are madrasas everywhere and they force you to follow religion.
You seem to be a Pakistani, honestly tell us that how many times you ''''forced'''' people that they either become converts or get ready to be killed by your sword?

AND I FORGOT TO ADD,

HOW MANY TIMES YOU FORCE PEOPLE THAT THEY FOLLOW YOUR DEFINITION OF RELIGION?

Now it shouldn''t hurt you.


__________________________________

[winnerindia]

strange that any positive development out of Pakistan has to be a storry hidden deep inside whereas everything negative about pakistan has to be a headline on CBS....no wonder this channel is going out of business

so where are the vocal indians and rednecks on this story?

--------------------
Posted by mabangash at 07:08 PM : Oct 13, 2008


It''s not CBS , it''s Pakistanis.
95% Pakistanis have their sympathies with terrorists so one can''t trust whatever +tive news comes from them. That nation is not trust worthy at all.
There are madrasas everywhere and they force you to follow religion.
You seem to be a Pakistani, honestly tell us that how many times you ''forced'' people that they either become converts or get ready to be killed by your sword?

[mabangash]

strange that any positive development out of Pakistan has to be a storry hidden deep inside whereas everything negative about pakistan has to be a headline on CBS....no wonder this channel is going out of business

so where are the vocal indians and rednecks on this story?

[far_point200]

Wow, maybe now we can start forming private militias and begin securitizing our border with Mexico.

[cessna172_]

These extremist have been doing this for 30yrs, the only reason the U S has stayed nuetral is due to politics .
Personally we should make Osama Laden and his other followers an example to the world such as Great Britain conducted with the IRA and exterminate .

[usclimey]

Osama has contributed millions of dollars to domestic terror groups in America. The cash purchases weapons, munitions, vehicles, and safe houses.

Posted by Petro49L

domestic terror groups such as?????

[usclimey]

indeed..now if we can have the liberals and terrorist se it that way then perhaps they would STOP IMPEADING us giving them the building block

Posted by libluv2spit

If you watched the movie, "Charlie Norman''s War" you''d realise that it was a democrat that helped the Afghanis get rid of the Russians, then the Reagan Republicans who failed to follow through with aid for schools, roads, building the blocks of peace. This let down was directly responsible for the rise of the Taliban and Al Quaeda.

[petro49l]

Bin Laden said that the Tribesmen are a common peasant. They should be killed-off to expand the farming of exotic poppies and produce tar/china white heroin. The Pakistani Army protects Al Qada''s illicit narcotics enterprise. Junkies pour money into Al Qada''s online Bank accounts. Osama has contributed millions of dollars to domestic terror groups in America. The cash purchases weapons, munitions, vehicles, and safe houses.

[questionnews]

One can''''t bomb these people back to the stone-age, they are already there. One must first look at these people as Humans, then you can see that they are trying to better them selves, this is being Human. By givening them the first building blocks of help, you will be getting a group of people that wants a better life.

Posted by obanau4 at 09:37 AM : Oct 13, 2008

Which group are you speaking of? The Pakistanis or the Taliban/Al Qaeda???

If it''s the Taliban /Al Qaeda, how is bombing a market full of women / children and fellow citizens "trying to better them selves".
Why would you consider making a 12 year boy old slice off the head of a capture "being Human"

Nazi concentration camp officers were "Human" but it didn''t mean they were people you wanted over for a tea party or even on the planet.