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23 militants dead in clashes in NW Pakistan

(Agencies)
Updated: 2009-07-14 15:52

KHAR, Pakistan: Pro-government tribesmen killed 23 militants in clashes in Pakistan's volatile northwest in the latest violence between tribal militias and Taliban insurgents, a government official said Tuesday.

The fighting took place in the village of Ambar in the Mohmand region, part of the lawless tribal belt along Pakistan's border with Afghanistan where top Taliban and al-Qaida leaders are believed to be hiding.

Army soldiers use a metal detector to search through luggage of the internally displaced returning to Bari Kot, located in the Swat valley, about 225 km (140 miles) by road north west of Pakistan's capital Islamabad July 13, 2009. [Agencies]

Syed Ahmad Jan, a senior regional administrator, said local tribal militia asked the militants to leave the area late Monday. The militants refused and opened fire, sparking a gun battle that was still raging Tuesday morning, Jan said.

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Pakistan's government has encouraged tribesmen in the semiautonomous frontier region to form local militias, known as lashkars, to repel Taliban militants blamed for attacks in Pakistan and Afghanistan. The militias carry out patrols and have been pursuing remnants of Taliban who had tried to expand their influence into the area.

Such groups have been set up in several regions but face stiff Taliban resistance.

Pakistan's military also has carried out operations of its own against militants in the volatile northwest, and is readying another major offensive against Taliban fighters in the South Waziristan tribal region.

The US strongly supports Islamabad's efforts to confront the insurgents, seeing them as a test of nuclear-armed Pakistan's resolve to tame Islamist militancy in the country.

But Pakistan also has to grapple with a massive refugee crisis in the northwest sparked by its battle with militants.

After weeks spent in sweltering camps, refugees from the Swat Valley boarded buses and began heading home Monday, the first day of the government's official repatriation program for those uprooted by fighting there.

Some refugees, however, refused to go back, fearing for their safety and demanding aid promised by the government. Thousands more tried to return without official permission and were blocked by the military.

The repatriation program's sputtering start illustrates the Pakistani government's struggles to respond to one of the most challenging humanitarian crises in the country's history. Last year, officials told refugees from the Bajur tribal region they could return during a cease-fire with Taliban fighters, and many did, only to see fighting resume.

Some families said they would not go home unless they were given money, food and other government-promised aid. Each family was supposed to get the equivalent of $306, but the government has had problems distributing the cash.

The government has sought to downplay the concerns.

Amir Haider Khan Hoti, the chief minister of the North West Frontier Province, assured refugees Monday the government was strengthening the police force to help keep out the Taliban. The army has already said it expects to stay in Swat for another year.

The government has also vowed to provide for those returning and those still stuck in camps until the end of the year. About 200,000 have been living in camps. Most of the displaced have stayed with relatives and friends.

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