wana

Tribesmen loyal to the Pakistani government fought fierce battles with foreign al-Qaeda militants for a third day on Wednesday, leaving more than 100 people dead, officials said. Pakistani troops also shelled the Uzbek militants sheltering in the mountainous tribal area of South Waziristan, security officials and residents said, although a military spokesperson denied the army was involved.

Up to 30 people, at least half of them foreign al-Qaeda-linked militants, have been killed in two days of fighting with Pakistani tribesmen near the Afghan border, a military spokesperson said on Tuesday. A battle between foreign militants, most of them Uzbeks, and the area’s ethnic Pashtun tribesmen erupted on March 6.