Hunt for clerics behind Pakistan tribal clashes

MIR ALI – Pakistani troops yesterday searched for two pro-Taliban clerics accused of instigating the worst fighting near the Afghan border since the start of the “war on terror”, officials said.

Sporadic clashes erupted overnight although the situation was mostly calm amid a curfew in the town of Miranshah, where 140 militants have died in days of fierce fighting that erupted on Saturday. Security forces arrested seven suspects in overnight raids in Miranshah, the main town in the troubled North Waziristan tribal region.Elders and local officials were in talks to end the violence.”We are desperately searching for the two main culprits, Maulvi Abdul Khaleq and Maulvi Sadiq Noor, but we still do not have any information about their whereabouts” a senior security official told AFP.Officials said Noor and Khaleq have been trying to impose strict Islamic laws in Miranshah and are closely linked to the Taliban, the fundamentalist regime ousted from Afghanistan in a US-led invasion in late 2001.Hundreds of Taliban and al Qaeda fighters have sneaked across the mountainous border in the past four years, finding support from conservative Pakistani tribesmen.Khaleq, who runs a major madrassa, or Islamic boarding school in Miranshah, had called for a “holy war” against the army after troops last week destroyed an al Qaeda training centre in nearby Saidgai village, officials said.Khaleq’s brother was among some 40 militants killed in the raid on Wednesday, they added.Noor, who also runs a preaching centre and a madrassa near Miranshah, joined forces with Khaleq and on Saturday hundreds of armed Islamic students occupied the main buildings in Miranshah and attacked military posts from several directions, the officials said.The military says more than 100 died on Saturday and another 19 on Monday when troops backed by helicopter gunships seized back control of the main bazaar and government buildings, forcing the militants into mountain hideouts.A provincial government official in the northwestern city of Peshawar, Sikander Qayyum, told the BBC that 140 militants have been killed in the three days of clashes that started Saturday during a visit to Islamabad by US President George W.Bush.Militants fired at some army positions overnight Monday and also attacked a paramilitary checkpost on the outskirts of Miranshah but there were no immediate reports of casualties, the army said.”There are no fresh clashes since this morning and tribal elders and the political administration are holding talks to end the violence,” an army official in the northwestern city of Peshawar told AFP.The majority of the population has already fled Miranshah and residents in the nearby town of Mir Ali reported seeing thousands of people fleeing with their belongings clutched in their hands.Government forces late last year raided cleric Noor’s seminary following intelligence that he was providing shelter to al Qaeda and Taliban fugitives.However there were no arrests.A senior army official said if the two were “captured or killed” the resistance in Miransah will die down, the same way it subsided in neighbouring South Waziristan when top militant commander Nek Mohammad was killed in a missile strike in 2004.- Nampa-AFPSecurity forces arrested seven suspects in overnight raids in Miranshah, the main town in the troubled North Waziristan tribal region.Elders and local officials were in talks to end the violence.”We are desperately searching for the two main culprits, Maulvi Abdul Khaleq and Maulvi Sadiq Noor, but we still do not have any information about their whereabouts” a senior security official told AFP.Officials said Noor and Khaleq have been trying to impose strict Islamic laws in Miranshah and are closely linked to the Taliban, the fundamentalist regime ousted from Afghanistan in a US-led invasion in late 2001.Hundreds of Taliban and al Qaeda fighters have sneaked across the mountainous border in the past four years, finding support from conservative Pakistani tribesmen.Khaleq, who runs a major madrassa, or Islamic boarding school in Miranshah, had called for a “holy war” against the army after troops last week destroyed an al Qaeda training centre in nearby Saidgai village, officials said.Khaleq’s brother was among some 40 militants killed in the raid on Wednesday, they added.Noor, who also runs a preaching centre and a madrassa near Miranshah, joined forces with Khaleq and on Saturday hundreds of armed Islamic students occupied the main buildings in Miranshah and attacked military posts from several directions, the officials said.The military says more than 100 died on Saturday and another 19 on Monday when troops backed by helicopter gunships seized back control of the main bazaar and government buildings, forcing the militants into mountain hideouts.A provincial government official in the northwestern city of Peshawar, Sikander Qayyum, told the BBC that 140 militants have been killed in the three days of clashes that started Saturday during a visit to Islamabad by US President George W.Bush.Militants fired at some army positions overnight Monday and also attacked a paramilitary checkpost on the outskirts of Miranshah but there were no immediate reports of casualties, the army said.”There are no fresh clashes since this morning and tribal elders and the political administration are holding talks to end the violence,” an army official in the northwestern city of Peshawar told AFP.The majority of the population has already fled Miranshah and residents in the nearby town of Mir Ali reported seeing thousands of people fleeing with their belongings clutched in their hands.Government forces late last year raided cleric Noor’s seminary following intelligence that he was providing shelter to al Qaeda and Taliban fugitives.However there were no arrests.A senior army official said if the two were “captured or killed” the resistance in Miransah will die down, the same way it subsided in neighbouring South Waziristan when top militant commander Nek Mohammad was killed in a missile strike in 2004.- Nampa-AFP