Tribal-militant clashes intensify in Pakistan

Fighting between local and foreign militants Friday killed 52 people, bringing to more than 200 the number of dead in recent days in a conflict between Pakistanis and suspected al-Qaida-linked extremists, a senior official said.
Interior Minister Aftab Khan Sherpao said 45 Uzbek militants and seven tribesmen died in battles in South Waziristan, a lawless region used as a rear base by Taliban militants fighting in Afghanistan. The U.S. fears that al-Qaida is regrouping there.
Since fighting began last week, 213 people have been killed, including 177 Uzbeks and their local allies, Sherpao said.
The conflict intensified Friday after foreigners failed to comply with an ultimatum from tribal elders to leave their territory, Sherpao said.
Under pressure from the U.S. to do more against the Taliban and al-Qaida, the government has claimed that the violence in South Waziristan vindicates its policy of using traditional leaders, not the army, to combat militancy along the border.
Some analysts, however, say that militants with links to the Taliban and al-Qaida are involved on both sides of the current conflict, and that blood feuds could deepen insecurity in a region viewed as a possible hiding place for Osama bin Laden and Ayman al-Zawahri.
Courtesy: Indystar