Pak tribesmen resolve to fight back US forces if incursions continue

Peshawar, Sept 18 : The Ahmedzai Wazir tribesmen have resolved to fight the US forces on Afghani soil if their incursions into South Waziristan continue. The decision was taken at a 3000-strong jirga held in Wana last evening.

The jirga consisted of pro-government tribal elders and pro-Taliban clerics. "Each and every Ahmedzai Wazir tribesman, be young or old, will take up arms against the US and fight alongside the Pakistan Army," eyewitnesses told Daily Times, quoting pro-Taliban Noor Muhammad reading a unanimous resolution at the end of the jirga.

The resolution came hours after US Joint Chiefs of Staff Chairman Admiral Michael Mullen met the Pakistani political and military leadership in Islamabad to defuse tension between the two countries following the September 3 US-led ground assault in the Federally Administered Tribal Areas (FATA).

"We will take the war to Afghanistan to confront the Americans," the resolution said.

Tribal elders said on condition of anonymity that clerics developed differences over the time to deliver the resolution, adding Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam-Fazl (JUI-F) clerics had wanted to delay the resolution until JUI-F chief Fazlur Rehman returns from Umra. "Other clerics opposed the delay, saying the US needs urgent response," the tribal elders added.

The jirga resolution also accused Kabul of 'misleading' the US forces about the presence of Al Qaeda in South Waziristan. "Let it be clear to the Americans that the Kabul regime is misleading them. Tribesmen have no business to do with Al Qaeda," the resolution stated.

ANI