Pakistani forces trade fire with Islamist rebels

Islamabad, Mar 7: Pakistani forces traded sporadic fire with Islamist rebels near the Afghan border today (Mar 7, 2006) but there were no reports of new casualties in the fighting that has killed more than 120 people, an official said.

Pro-Taliban rebels launched attacks on government positions in the lawless area on Saturday as US President George W Bush was meeting Pakistani President Pervez Musharraf in the capital to galvanise efforts in the war on terrorism.

Government forces were in control of Miranshah, the main town in the North Waziristan tribal area where the fighting erupted, and elders were trying to help restore order, said Zaheerul Islam, a top political official in the town.

''The curfew is continuing today so the situation can return to normal quickly,'' Islam told Reuters over the telephone.

''Forces are present in the town while jirgas and talks are also going on,'' he said. A jirga is a traditional council of elders.

The semi-autonomous ethnic Pashtun lands along the Afghan border that include Waziristan are Pakistan's front line in the war on terrorism.

Many al Qaeda militants fled to the area awash with weapons after US and Afghan opposition forces ousted the Taliban in 2001, and were given refuge by Taliban supporters among ethnic Pashtun clans who inhabit both sides of the border.

Pakistani forces have been trying to clear foreign militants from the area and subdue their Pakistani allies since 2004 and hundreds of people have been killed.

Militants launched attacks and seized government buildings in Miranshah on Saturday in revenge for the killing last Wednesday of 45 comrades in a government attack.

The military says more than 120 rebels and five government troops have been killed since Saturday.

GHOST TOWN

Islam said intermittent fire went on through last night and today but there were no reports of casualties.

A resident said militants fired rockets at an army camp overnight and the army responded with artillery into nearby mountains.

Helicopter gunships circled today.

Thousands of residents have fled since last week and Miranshah looked like a ghost town with shops boarded up and streets deserted, said the resident who, like many in the area, is fearful of militant reprisals and declined to be identified.

Electricity and water were cut and telephone landlines were down.

Waziristan is part of the Federally Administered Tribal Areas.

Few of Pakistan's federal laws apply in the territory of rugged mountains and interference is resented.

In the 1980s, US-funded weapons and Islamist fighters poured into the area to bolster the holy war against Soviet forces occupying Afghanistan.

Afghanistan says militants infiltrate from Waziristan and other border areas. The Afghan accusations have strained relations with Pakistan.

REUTERS