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| India-Pakistan |
| Once absolute, Pakistani tribal elders being massacred or replaced by Taliban |
| 2006-06-08 |
| To be a tribal elder in Pakistan's Waziristan region once meant unquestioned power and respect. These days it connotes title to a way of life ruptured by the modern world. Increasingly, it also carries a death sentence. Some 150 tribal elders have been killed in Waziristan in the past three years. No arrests have been made; no prosecutions handed down. But most of the whispers point to the Taliban, who have publicly condemned many elders for supporting the military's war against radical militants. Without the authority of the elders, there is little to stop the growing power of radical mullahs and the Taliban they support in a troubled land where top Al Qaeda figures have been thought to hide. Government efforts to clean up the region have only backfired, pushing the tribal system to the verge of collapse, observers contend. What is happening in Waziristan, they add, is a wake-up call for the rest of the tribal belt along the border with Afghanistan. |
| Posted by:Dan Darling |
| #1 fu--ck achmed--i thought i could settle down to a spate of mountain golf and smote neck head shuffleboard with a side of bouzkashi thrown in-- now i gotta be martyred by young talibs before i can enjoy the curly headed smoothe youth early bird special |
| Posted by: yo momma 2006-06-08 15:42 |