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Pakistan army joins tribal fight
Pakistani President Pervez Musharraf has admitted publicly for the first time that the army has helped tribal fighters battling foreign militants.
He said local Pashtuns had killed about 300 foreign militants in several weeks of clashes near the Afghan border.
Local sources put the figure much lower, at fewer than 100.
The army had denied any role in the fighting but now says it is helping locals drive out foreigners, among them al-Qaeda and Taleban fighters.
It says fighting in troubled South Waziristan broke out after tribesmen accused Uzbek militants of criminal behaviour.
The BBC's Barbara Plett in Islamabad says the military may want to highlight the uprising against the Uzbeks because it is under pressure from the West to move against foreign fighters in the lawless tribal areas near the Afghan border.
She says Nato is concerned about the infiltration of militants into Afghanistan, but it is not clear whether the campaign will stop that.
Under pressure
President Musharraf was addressing a military conference in the capital, Islamabad.
More
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/south_asia/6549103.stm
Local sources put the figure much lower, at fewer than 100.
The army had denied any role in the fighting but now says it is helping locals drive out foreigners, among them al-Qaeda and Taleban fighters.
It says fighting in troubled South Waziristan broke out after tribesmen accused Uzbek militants of criminal behaviour.
The BBC's Barbara Plett in Islamabad says the military may want to highlight the uprising against the Uzbeks because it is under pressure from the West to move against foreign fighters in the lawless tribal areas near the Afghan border.
She says Nato is concerned about the infiltration of militants into Afghanistan, but it is not clear whether the campaign will stop that.
Under pressure
President Musharraf was addressing a military conference in the capital, Islamabad.
More
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/south_asia/6549103.stm
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