23 Jun, 2009
Pakistani tribesmen tighten noose around Taliban
Posted by: admin In: Around Beijing| News
UPPER DIR, Pakistan – “The noose around the Taliban is tightening,” said 50-year-old Sirajuddin, the leader of a tribal militia based in Dhogbala, a town in the Upper Dir region of Pakistan’s Northwest Frontier Province. “Our fight will go on to the final victory.”
Taliban militants have been pouring into Upper Dir for weeks, fleeing the Pakistan army assault in the adjacent Swat Valley. Sirajuddin, who goes by just one name, said that the army had been bombing the militants’ hideouts in the nearby hills and hit some shops in Dhogbala by mistake. The militants then swarmed down from the mountains, raided the shops and stole all the food.
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| Fakhar Rehman / NBC News |
| Sirajuddin, the leader of a tribal militia fighting the Taliban. |
Sirajuddin, tall and slim with a neatly cropped salt and pepper beard, spoke softly as he explained the militia’s determination to go after the Taliban. But his voice rose in anger and his lips quivered when he recalled the suicide attack by the Taliban on his mosque on June 5.
“Those criminals killed 40 innocent people at prayer, just because they would not support them. We had to bury 12 children that day,” said Sirajuddin. “Tell me, what was their crime?”
The next day, after the funerals, 500 villagers gathered at the home of one of their elders and voted unanimously to avenge the deaths from the mosque bombing and go after the Taliban. Sirajuddin volunteered to give up his job as a laborer and lead the militia.
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