Pakistan marks pro-Al Qaeda clan

There are two main tribes, Ahmed Zai Wazir and Mehsud, living in South Waziristan - and they are rivals. Most of the tribesmen belonging to the Ahmed Zai Wazir tribe are illiterate and staunch Islamists. Thousands participated in the battles against the Soviet occupation of Afghanistan in the 1980s. The ongoing Pakistani military operation was launched in the areas where the Ahmed Zai Wazir tribe lives. Yargul Khel is a sub-clan of the Zali Khel tribe which is part of the Ahmed Zai Wazir tribe.

The shift in Pakistan's military tactics comes as its 5,000 troops continued its biggest-ever operation in the region. On Monday, a Pakistani Army convoy was ambushed in a rocket attack as it tried to bring in reinforcements to Wana. And security forces killed three "foreign terrorists" said to be Uzbeks. They were found hiding in the bunker of a mud house in the nearby town of Kallu Shah.

Two Chechens were reported killed on Sunday. In the early hours Monday, a group of "terrorists" attacked a military base in Wana with rockets and heavy fire. Pakistani forces retaliated with heavy artillery for several hours and sent in gunship helicopters against the guerrilla hideouts.

A delegation of 22 Zali Khel elders spent Monday visiting the affected towns and villages trying to negotiate for the surrender of four wanted Yargul Khel tribesmen fighting along with Al Qaeda against Pakistani security forces.

The mission was the result of a meeting Sunday between 150 tribal elders and government officials in an effort to bring a halt to military actions in South Waziristan.

Local tribal sources say the "foreign terrorists" have the backing of 1,500 to 2,200 trained and armed tribesmen, known here as the Men of Al Qaeda.

"The terrorists are trying to cash in on human miseries to collect sympathies. They often make civilians human shields. Now if the villages are vacated, then they will try to attack security forces to make them hostile. The security forces would want to isolate them and avoid civilian casualties. It will be a battle of nerves now," says a tribal elder, Malik Behram Khan.

Thousands have fled the troubled towns and villages with white flags hoisted on their carts, trucks, and cars to take refuge in safer places, while hundreds of families are still trapped.

Perhaps explaining how militant leaders may have escaped an army cordon thrown around the area, Pakistani troops have discovered tunnels - including one that was a mile long - under the fortress-like compounds in the town of Tellu Shah.

Local sources and a government official in South Waziristan say communications equipment and tunnels were found in the house of Sarwar Khan, a tribal elder of the Yargul Khel clan.

Ret. Brig. Gen. Mahmood Shah, who is secretary of security in the tribal areas, told reporters in Peshawar that the Pakistani forces had discovered "a 2-kilometer long tunnel running between the houses of two wanted tribesmen and leading to a stream."

Authorities were also doing DNA tests on six bodies recovered from the battle to determine their identities.

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