A delegation from North Waziristan left for Wana on Wednesday to try and broker peace between a local tribe and foreign militants, a day after clashes between the two left at least 18 dead. A tribal source in Miranshah, regional headquarters of North Waziristan, said that Maulana Noor Alam was leading the jirga to broker a peace deal. The source did not say how many people the jirga included.The bloody clash on Tuesday in Azam Warsak near Wana, regional headquarters of South Waziristan, between the foreign militants and Zalikhel sub-tribe members resulted in 18 casualties - 15 foreigners and three locals, according to unofficial sources. Arbab Arif, security chief in the tribal areas, confirmed the death toll in the fighting, the first reported clash between foreign militants and local tribesmen since Al Qaeda and Taliban militants crossed into Pakistan from Afghanistan following the US-led invasion of 2001.
The clash appeared to underline a change in behaviour of the local tribal populace against militants, he told Daily Times. Malik Saeedullah, chieftain of the Zalikhel sub-tribe, heads a local peace committee and has survived two assassination attempts from Uzbek and Tajik militants, whose stay in the area he opposes. Maulana Noor Alam was a member of the jirga that successfully brokered a peace deal between pro-Taliban militants and the government in September last year and he is believed "to hold sway" over militants in the area.
Agencies add: A security official told AFP the death toll had risen to 19. "The dead include 12 Uzbek militants and three local supporters, three members of local peace committee and one Afghan shopkeeper," he said. Information Minister Mohammed Ali Durrani said the incident was a "vital development" because it suggested that elders in the semi-autonomous border zone were growing more hostile to foreign fighters who have found refuge in their midst. The Uzbeks "obviously" belong to Al Qaeda, Durrani said in a telephone interview with AP. "They were welcome before, but their behaviour has become more aggressive and this is the reaction of the local tribes," he said. An intelligence official said efforts were also being made for the release of three tribesmen captured by Uzbek militants during the fighting.