Backlash loosens al-Qaeda's hold on Pakistan's border

"Since Monday tribal fighters have been engaged in a full-blooded battle with Islamist fighters from Uzbekistan, who have been living in Waziristan since the fall of the Taliban in late 2001. Both sides have used artillery, rockets and gunfire." "The Uzbeks are led by Tahir Yuldashev, an Islamist who was once a close associate of Osama bin Laden. The combat centered on a remote valley about 12 miles west of Wana, the main town in South Waziristan. The government claimed that up to 135 people had been killed, at least half of them Uzbeks. But a tribal source from Wana told the Guardian only 60 bodies had been accounted for." As reported by the Guardien This is proof that the Terrorists don't understand locals will get frustrated and stand up against them. - Ian Bach http://www.guardian.co.uk/pakistan/Story/0,,2040552,00.html Tags: afghanistan, iraq, pakistan, insurgents, al-qaeda Friday March 23, 2007 - 01:57pm (PDT)