KHAR: Tribesmen backed by army helicopter gunships battled the Taliban in Bajaur Agency on Tuesday, killing several of the Taliban, a tribal elder said.
The latest clash broke out in Mulla Saib Dara village, when a 6,000-strong tribal lashkar tried to set fire to the Taliban houses and hideouts. "Fighting is going on and to help us, the army sent some gunships which fired at the Taliban, killing several of them," tribal elder Malik Younus told Reuters.
He said his men would battle the Taliban until they were cleared from the region.
"It's now clear to everybody that we can't tolerate lawlessness in our land. Everyone has to obey our tribal rules and they can't make our land a hub of terrorism," Younus said.
Four Taliban were killed and two were wounded in the shelling of a vehicle in Mamoond town, a security official told AFP on condition of anonymity. Troops killed another five Taliban after their group launched an attack on a military checkpost in the same town, sparking a gunbattle that lasted nearly an hour, the official said.
A tribal lashkar killed two Taliban and captured another in Lower Kurram, following the kidnapping of a tribal elder, local administration told Daily Times.
Ferozkhel tribesmen set up pickets at various locations to search missing elder Malik Gulistan who was kidnapped by the Taliban on Monday.
"A vehicle ignored tribesmen's signals to stop. Two Taliban were killed and one injured during clash between the two sides," the political administration said.
Helicopter gunships also destroyed what authorities claim were Taliban explosive-laden vehicles at a basic health unit. The local administration said the Taliban subsequently blew up two security checkposts and a bride in retaliation to the vehicle attack late on Monday.
Leaflets dropped: Residents said government helicopters dropped leaflets in various parts of the agency calling for the support. But a Taliban spokesman dismissed the significance of tribal lashkars. "There is no revolt against the Taliban," spokesman Maulvi Omar said over telephone from an undisclosed location, Reuters reported.
No one dares: "It's government propaganda. Nobody dares stand up against the Taliban," he said.
Omar said the Taliban had killed 15 tribesmen in fighting over the past two days.
Following the Salarzai and Charmang tribes, the Utman Khel tribe has also announced it will form a lashkar againt the Taliban after Eid, APP reported.
Earlier, an Utaman Khel jirga said it would help security forces in flushing the Taliban out of the agency.
The jirga participants said they would resist the Taliban and foreign forces in their areas.
They said strict action would be taken against those backing or sheltering the Taliban.
Assistant Political Agent Muhammad Iqbal Khan Khattak told the jirga that the government alone could not fight the Taliban, and that it needed the tribesmen's support to eliminate the Taliban from the area.
The Kala Khel tribe has also raised a tribal lashkar of 5,000 men to fight the Taliban and expel them from Darra Adam Khel.
