Militants torch newspapers in Pakistani tribal area
MIRANSHAH, Pakistan (AFP) - Masked gunmen have set fire to dozens of newspapers in Pakistan's tribal belt bordering Afghanistan because the publications failed to describe them as holy warriors, officials said.
Two suspected militants torched copies of the Urdu-language dailies at two stalls in a main market of Mir Ali, a town in the restive North Waziristan tribal region, a local administration official told AFP.
The gunmen said they burned the papers because they were biased against them and had called them "miscreants", instead of "mujahedin" or holy warriors as they prefer, local residents said.
Pakistani officials use the term "miscreants" to refer to a wide variety of insurgents, including Islamic militants in the northwest, rebel tribesmen in the troubled southwest and members of sectarian extremist groups.
Militants distributed leaflets in Miranshah, North Waziristan's main town, and adjoining areas on Sunday calling for a holy war against Americans and their allies, referring to them as "Jews and Christians".
Pakistan has deployed 80,000 troops in the tribal areas to hunt militants who sneaked across the frontier after Afghanistan's hardline Taliban regime was toppled by US-led forces in late 2001.
Clashes in the regions of North and South Waziristan last month left around 250 insurgents and five soldiers dead, the military said.
Two suspected militants torched copies of the Urdu-language dailies at two stalls in a main market of Mir Ali, a town in the restive North Waziristan tribal region, a local administration official told AFP.
The gunmen said they burned the papers because they were biased against them and had called them "miscreants", instead of "mujahedin" or holy warriors as they prefer, local residents said.
Pakistani officials use the term "miscreants" to refer to a wide variety of insurgents, including Islamic militants in the northwest, rebel tribesmen in the troubled southwest and members of sectarian extremist groups.
Militants distributed leaflets in Miranshah, North Waziristan's main town, and adjoining areas on Sunday calling for a holy war against Americans and their allies, referring to them as "Jews and Christians".
Pakistan has deployed 80,000 troops in the tribal areas to hunt militants who sneaked across the frontier after Afghanistan's hardline Taliban regime was toppled by US-led forces in late 2001.
Clashes in the regions of North and South Waziristan last month left around 250 insurgents and five soldiers dead, the military said.
posted by Marko at 4/24/2006 06:03:00 AM
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