Miran Shah, Pakistan – Hundreds of people lugging bags and bundles of clothes fled a remote town after pro-Taliban tribesmen and foreign militants battled security forces in northwestern Pakistan, leaving at least 53 people dead in the worst clashes in the lawless region in two years.
The unrest came amid mounting anger over military attacks against al-Qaeda and Taliban remnants, who have been sheltered by heavily armed tribes that have long resisted the government’s control.
Fighting started Saturday and died down early Sunday in the North Waziristan region, said Maj. Gen. Shaukat Sultan, an army spokesman.
Sporadic firing broke out Sunday afternoon in the town of Miran Shah, the main hot spot of the unrest. But the fighters retreated from government buildings they had occupied Saturday, and soldiers controlled the town again, Sultan said.
The foreign fighters were coming from neighboring Afghanistan and would be “confronted and eliminated,” Sultan said.
The weekend violence erupted three days after the army attacked a suspected al-Qaeda camp in the village of Saidgi near the Afghan border. Military officials said 45 people, including foreign militants, were killed in the attack.
