Pakistani tribesmen vent anger over US counter-attack

Thousands of Pakistani tribesmen shouted anti-US slogans yesterday as they buried three of 24 suspected Islamist militants killed inside Pakistan by US forces operating out of Afghanistan.

Mourners chanted "Down with infidel America" and "Long live Islam" at the funeral held in two villages in the North Waziristan tribal region, 300 km southwest of the Pakistani capital, Islamabad.

"These 24 people are martyrs and our entire Waziristan region is ready for jihad (holy war)," Maulana Abdur Rehman, a local prayer leader said at the funeral of two suspects.

Pakistan's tribal belt is overwhelmingly Pashtun and most people are deeply conservative Muslims, sharing common religious and ethnic roots with Taliban fighters trying to oust US-led forces from Afghanistan.

Tension has been building for months in Pakistan's North Waziristan since the army completed a series of offensives against al-Qaeda militants in neighbouring South Waziristan.

On Thursday, a senior US administration official in Washington said the United States, Afghanistan and Pakistan needed to squeeze insurgents along the rugged border where al-Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden might be hiding.

The same day, Major-General Akram Sahi, commander of Pakistani troops in North Waziristan, warned tribesmen of an imminent offensive unless they handed over foreign militants.

Pakistan military officials said the militants killed on Thursday night near Lowara Mandi, a border village, included Taliban and their al-Qaeda allies.

The US military said its forces killed the suspected militants after coming under rocket fire from across the border. One Afghan soldier was killed in the insurgents' attack.

Lieutenant-Colonel Jerry O'Hara, a US military spokesman in Afghanistan, said the militants fired 25 rockets, while US forces replied with eight artillery shells and fire from aircraft.

Pakistani officials said they were checking whether any territorial violation was committed by the US forces while hitting the suspected militants.

Despite its status as a key US ally, Pakistan has bridled in the past at US sorties across the border.

Intelligence officials in North Waziristan said they had rounded up four suspected militants yesterday, raising the toll of detained suspects to 11 in two days.