Tribesmen kill 15 bandits in NWA
Bureau Report

PESHAWAR—Atleast fifteen persons were killed and numerous houses were set on fire in serious clashes between two rival groups in the area of South Waziristan in Miran Shah. Sources reveal that two rival groups, one of them local Taliban and the other Hakim Khan Group were engaged in serious brawls over old enmity.
Both the parties opened indiscriminate firing resulting in the death of fifteen persons, eight belonging from Hakeem Khan Group and five from Taliban group while several houses were set ablaze after the children and woman were literally thrown out of their respective homes. A wave of shock and fright was felt among the locals as they locked their houses and shut their windows in fear.
On the other hand, Political Administration has refused to comment on the incident and have neither confirmed it till the filing of the report. According to details, fighting started between local Taliban and Hakim Khan Group when the former refused to pay bribe near Eidgah and as a result 7 persons were killed from side, five from Taliban and two from Hakim Khan Group.
The local Taliban encircled the house of Hakim Khan on late Tuesday night and firing continued till Wednesday morning which killed more eight people from Hakim Khan Group raising the death toll to 15. Taliban burnt the houses of Hakim Khan Group after taking out the inmates and warned the people not to support the group.
However, the political administration has not confirmed the incident and tense has prevailed in the area.
“The security situation there is fast deteriorating,” the government official said. Many al Qaeda members fled to the region from Afghanistan after U.S.-led forces ousted the country’s Taliban regime in late 2001, and were given shelter by militant sympathizers from conservative Pashtun tribes that inhabit both sides of the border. The leader of the bandit gang, identified as Hakeem, was killed in the clash and four of his men taken hostage, the official said. Militants and hundreds of their supporters burned several houses and warned residents not to give shelter to the bandits and their supporters, the resident said.