Locals to raise militia against Hakimullah

WANA: Members of a Pashtun tribe vowed on Friday to raise a militia aimed at forcing militants loyal to Taliban chief Hakimullah Mehsud from their lands on the Afghan border.

Elders from the Wazir tribe agreed to raise a traditional tribal militia, known as a “Lashkar,” to expel Mehsud militants from their areas. “We promised to keep the peace and we will force militants to leave our areas within a week,” Wazir tribal elder Mohammad Ajmal told a gathering of around 400 tribal leaders in Wana, the main town of Waziristan. He spoke after a meeting with government authorities. “We will not let anyone to ruin the peace in Wana,” he added. The government has also been pressing the Wazir tribe to dislodge militants from its territory.

Hakimullah, the country’s number one enemy, comes from the Mehsud tribe, a major Pakhtun tribe living in South Waziristan. Though the military says it has destroyed most of the bases of Mehsud militants, Hakimullah and other leaders of the Pakistani Taliban survived the offensive.

A large number of militants fled to nearby regions while many fighters are also believed to have taken refuge in territories controlled by the Wazir tribe, the Mehsuds’ traditional rivals and the second major tribe in South Waziristan.

Hundreds of militants have been killed in military operations in South Waziristan and other areas in the northwest over the past year, but militants have been to able to hit back with a wave of attacks, killing hundreds of people across the country. Taliban militants killed at least 84 people in attacks on two Ahmadi places of worship in Lahore last week.

The US has also been pressing Pakistan to extend its offensive into neighbouring North Waziristan, described as the main sanctuary for al Qaeda-linked militants. Washington is particularly eager to strike the militants there, who, they say, launch cross-border attacks on Western forces in Afghanistan.

Moreover, suspected links between Faisal Shahzad, the main suspect in the botched bomb plot at New York’s Times Square, and militants in North Waziristan have added pressure on Pakistan to take concrete steps to tackle a mounting threat emanating from the region.

Pakistani officials say they are over-stretched and do not have enough resources to open another front when they have yet to consolidate successes in South Waziristan and elsewhere in the northwest.

Published in the Express Tribune, June 5^th, 2010.