15 July 2009 / AP, KHAR
Pro-government tribesmen killed at least 23 militants in clashes in Pakistan's northwest in the latest violence between tribal militias and Taliban insurgents, a government official said on Tuesday.
Elsewhere in the volatile northwest, suspected militants attacked an oil tanker carrying fuel to NATO forces in Afghanistan, killing two people, an official said. The clashes between militants and tribesmen 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-Qaeda leaders are believed to be hiding. 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 gunbattle that was still raging Tuesday morning, Jan said. Four tribal militiamen were wounded in the fight. 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. Such groups have been set up in several regions but face stiff Taliban resistance.
