Uzbek fighters killed in Waziristan

Up to 30 people have been killed in fighting over the past two days on the Pakistan-Afghanistan border, officials said on Tuesday.

The clashes, which started on Monday are said to be between foreign fighters, mostly Uzbeks, and the area's Pashtun tribesmen.

The conflict started near the town of Wana in south Waziristan.

"The number of casualties is rising and we have reports of 25 to 30 dead," Major-General Waheed Arshad, a Pakistan military spokesman, said.

Fighting had previously broken out between the two groups on March 6.

The conflict came after the government tried to convince tribal elders to keep order and stop militant raids into Afghanistan.

The tribesmen had been known for their tradition of providing sanctuary to those fighting against US-led forces in Afghanistan.

Government security forces were not involved, Arshad said.

Amid the fighting, three children were reportedly killed and about 20 more wounded when a stray mortar hit their school bus.

Tribal refuge

Hundreds of foreign fighters, including Uzbeks, Chechens and Arabs, fled to the semi-autonomous tribal lands on the Pakistani side of the border after US-led forces overthrew the Taliban government in Afghanistan in 2001.

Most of the tribesmen, who inhabit both sides of the Pakistani-Afghan border, have given refuge to the men despite government efforts to remove them.

The fighting this month indicates that, in at least one area, relations have broken down.

Arshad said: "It's a success of the government strategy ... the tribesmen are fed up with them because they and their activities adversely affect their lives and business."

An intelligence official in Wana said the Uzbek fighters had cut off a road to the west of the town and security forces would take action to clear it if they did not withdraw in 24 hours.

Seventeen people, most of them Uzbeks, were killed in the March 6 battle that broke out after the men tried to kill a pro-government tribal leader.

The cause of the latest fighting was not clear, but the tribal leader and his men had been demanding that the foreign militants lay down their arms, a security official in the area said.

The militants have killed many people across the region over the past few years, including pro-government tribal leaders and people they accuse of spying for US forces in Afghanistan.

Via al Jazeera.