Thousands of armed tribesmen met in a remote Pakistani district yesterday vowing to organise a lashkar (legion) to hunt down al-Qaeda-linked militants blamed for killing eight of their kinsmen. The tribal jirga (council) at Wana in South Waziristan bordering Afghanistan came three days after militants stormed two offices and killed eight tribal elders of a government-sponsored peace committee. | The council ordered tribesmen from every household belonging to the Wazir tribe to come to Wana with arms to prepare for action, a local official said. |
Wazir tribe chief Maulvi Nazir, who earned fame after he drove out hundreds of Uzbeks from the region last year in bloody clashes, is expected to address the lashkar on Thursday. He did not turn up at Wednesday's meeting but had earlier blamed Baitullah Mehsud, a top Al-Qaeda commander and leader of the rival Mehsud tribe, for the killing of the peace committee members. Residents have reported that announcements have been made on a public address system asking Mehsud tribesmen to "leave Wana to avoid losses."
Leader Mehsud is accused by the government of masterminding a spate of suicide attacks in the country, including the December 27 assassination of former prime minister Benazir Bhutto in a gun and suicide bomb attack in Rawalpindi. Mehsud has denied any involvement in the killing. Local sources told AFP his tribe was preparing a jirga to negotiate with the Wazir tribe to avoid a confrontation.