Fierce battles between tribesmen and foreign al-Qaeda militants in north-west Pakistan have left up to 160 people dead, including 130 Uzbeks and Chechens, a provincial governor said on Friday.
Between 25 and 30 tribesmen also died in the clashes that erupted on Monday in the South Waziristan tribal zone bordering Afghanistan, Ali Muhammad Jan Aurakzai, the governor of North West Frontier Province, told reporters.
Another 62 foreign fighters were arrested during the clashes, including Chechens, Uzbeks and other foreigners, Aurakzai said.
Officials previously said 120 people had been killed in the clashes.
”Local Waziristan people have risen against the foreigners in the region on their own. They have realised that their presence was causing trouble for the local population,” Aurakzai said.
”These foreigners were responsible for the increase in crimes and created hurdles in development works. They were asked by the tribal people to leave the area but they started fighting.”
The fighting started on Monday after an ex-Taliban commander the government says has defected to its side ordered followers of Uzbek militant Tahir Yuldashev, a former confidant of Osama bin Laden, to disarm.
Officials have said the battles show the success of Pakistan’s policy of encouraging conservative tribesmen in its border areas to drive out the militants themselves, instead of using the army.
The United States and other Western allies have repeatedly urged Pakistan to crack down on Islamic extremists in the mountainous tribal belt, saying that al-Qaeda and the Taliban were regrouping and building training camps there. — AFP
