Pakistani tribesmen vow to oust US from region

[maddezmom]

ISLAMABAD (AFP) - Thousands of Pakistani tribesmen have vowed to fight US forces as they marked the first death anniversary of a slain militant leader in a tribal region near Afghanistan.


Witnesses said up to 3,000 people, some brandishing assault rifles and some masked, turned up in the remote district of Azam Warsak, in South Waziristan tribal region, to offer prayers at the grave of militant leader Nek Mohammad.

Mohammad, a former Taliban commander, was killed in June last year after leading a bloody resistance to the Pakistan army's largest-ever offensive to drive-out Al-Qaeda linked militants in South Waziristan. Pakistan's military said it killed the militant.

"We will complete the mission of our commander Nek Mohammad and we will continue our jihad (holy war) against the US forces in the region," militant leader Maulvi Abdul Aziz told the gathering amid shouts of "Allah-o-Akbar" (God is greatest) on Saturday.

Pakistan's tribal region bordering Afghanistan has long been suspected of providing refuge to hundreds of Al-Qaeda-linked and Taliban militants who fled there after the ouster of the extremist Muslim Taliban regime by US-led forces in 2001.

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more: http://news.yahoo.com/s/afp/20050618/wl_sthasia_afp/pakistanafghanistanusattacksqaeda;_