Curfew eased in Pakistan town after militants killed

By Saad Khan

PESHAWAR, Pakistan (Reuters) – Pakistani authorities
further eased an eight-day-old curfew in the capital of a
tribal region bordering Afghanistan on Sunday after soldiers
killed dozens of Islamist militants in air and ground attacks.

The military said security forces killed up to 30
pro-Taliban foreign militants and their local supporters in a
village about 10 km (six miles) west of Miranshah, capital of
the North Waziristan tribal area, on Friday night.

Sporadic small arms fire, apparently from security forces,
was heard on Saturday night from outside the town, but there
were no reports of any more casualties.

Three rockets fired by militants landed in an army base in
the town of Bannu about 50 km (30 miles) to the west overnight,
but these also caused no casualties, officials said.

Pakistani forces have been trying to clear al Qaeda-linked
foreign militants from Waziristan since 2004 and it was the
scene of fierce battles this month that started just before a
visit to Pakistan by President George W. Bush from March 3-4.

According to the government, nearly 200 pro-Taliban
militants have been killed in the violence, as well as five
soldiers.

On Sunday, officials circulated notices to residents
warning that they could be arrested, fined or have their houses
bulldozed if they assisted militants or refused to give them
up.

Local people have faced threats from militants as well as
from the authorities.

The bullet-riddled body of a man was found on Sunday near
the town of Mirali, about 20 km (12 miles) west of Miranshah,
with a note attached that said:

“He was an enemy of Islam and a supporter of the
government. This will be the fate of anybody who is against
Islam and supports the government.”

Nevertheless, officials said the situation was improving
and announced a seven-hour break in a curfew imposed for the
past eight days.

“The situation is now returning to normal,” North
Waziristan’s top government official, Zaheerul Islam, told
Reuters.

“As soon as the situation improves further, we will do away
completely with the day-time curfew, but we will continue the
night curfew for some time.”

The curfew was initially around the clock, but there was a
five-hour break on Friday and for six hours on Saturday.

Many al Qaeda militants fled to the semi-autonomous tribal
belt after U.S. and Afghan opposition forces ousted the Taliban
regime in Afghanistan in 2001.

Many Pashtun tribesmen, who live on both sides of the
border, sympathize with the Taliban and al Qaeda, and al Qaeda
leaders Osama bin Laden and Ayman al-Zawahri are believed to be
hiding somewhere in the frontier region.