Pakistan joins Taliban supporters in fighting Uzbeks

Telegraph:

President Pervez Musharraf made a tacit admission yesterday that the Pakistani military has entered into a marriage of convenience with pro-Taliban tribesmen.

The tribesmen have been fighting foreign militants linked to al-Qa'eda, who are resident in the country. Pakistani military officials had denied direct involvement in fighting between the tribesmen and the foreigners, who have taken shelter in the lawless area of South Waziristan.

However, during a visit by The Daily Telegraph to the region this week Pakistani commanders made it clear that they support local militants who are fighting Central Asians, mainly Uzbeks.

From an outcrop at Sholam Post overlooking the Wana Valley, Maj Gen Gul Muhammad, commander of the 9th Division at Wana, South Waziristan, pointed out where the Uzbek fighters had been.

"We have not got rid of the Uzbeks yet, but they have basically been kicked out of the Wana Valley," he said.

The army's strategy has been to exploit a feud between the two factions by backing militant leaders, like Mullah Nazir, who is believed to be linked to a senior Taliban warlord, Jalaluddin Haqqani.

However, the government has portrayed the fighting, which began nearly a month ago, as an uprising against the Uzbeks, who fled Afghanistan after the American-led invasion in 2001.

Gen Musharraf said: "The people of South Waziristan have risen against the foreigners. They have killed about 300 of them, and they got support from the Pakistan army. They asked for support."

His statement confirmed that the military has entered into a pact with pro-Taliban militant leaders, who have turned against the foreigners they used to shelter.

The fighting has given Pakistan a propaganda coup and a fillip for its strategy in the tribal areas where the US has claimed al-Qa'eda is rebuilding. Gen Musharraf did not explain what type of support the military provided. However, a Pakistani soldier at Wana said he and 30 other troops had fought alongside the tribesmen. He claimed to have a killed an Uzbek.

It was reported that at least six Pakistani soldiers have died in the fighting.

...

The red on red fight in the tribal areas is one where we want both sides to lose. Perhaps Musharraf believes that by going after the foreigners he can get close to al Qaeda and at the same time lessen the pressure put on his government by the Taliban religious bigots. That is a calculation on which there are not sure bets other than at some point in the future the current allies will turn on each other.