TMCnet News
Battle claims 50 on Pakistan-Afghan border(UPI Top Stories Via Thomson Dialog NewsEdge)Pakistani security forces regained control Sunday of a major town near the Afghan border after clashes with pro-Taliban militants. Maj. Gen. Shaukat Sultan, the chief Pakistani military spokesman, said hundreds of armed tribesmen seized government buildings in the town of Miran Shah, about 20 miles from the Afghan border, the Washington Post reported. Sultan said 46 tribesmen and five soldiers were killed in the fighting, which began on the same day that President George W. Bush met in Islamabad with Pakistani President Pervez Musharraf. Fighting -- which had calmed down by Sunday morning -- was some of the heaviest in several years on Pakistan's side of the border, the newspaper said. The mountainous terrain is considered a likely hiding place for Osama bin Laden and his top deputy, Ayman al-Zawahiri. The government campaign in the region has not always been welcomed by the Pashtun tribesmen who dominate the area and have resisted outside influence for centuries, the Post said. |