FROM PAKISTAN, MORE PROOF TRIBAL STRATEGY IS WORKING

REUTERS (UK):

The Pakistan army moved into a known stronghold of foreign al Qaeda militants near the Afghan border after a tribal militia battled the Islamist militants this week, residents and officials said on Saturday.

Ethnic Pashtun tribesmen in the South Waziristan region vowed last month to expel the foreign jihadists, most of them Uzbeks, from their lands. More than 200 foreigners and up to 50 tribal fighters have been killed in clashes since then, government officials say.

Pakistani troops were deployed on Friday evening in mountainous Shin Warsak, about 10 km (6 miles) west of South Waziristan's main town of Wana. ... The army moved into bunkers the foreign jihadists built in the mountains. It was the first movement of Pakistani troops outside Wana in the tribal region since the government struck a peace deal with tribal elders in February 2005.

... Thousands of foreign fighters, including Uzbeks, Chechans and Arabs, fled to Pakistan's semi-autonomous tribal lands after U.S.-led forces defeated the Taliban in Afghanistan in 2001.

After unsuccessful military campaigns to clear al Qaeda nests from Waziristan, the government made pacts with tribesmen in the hope of driving a wedge between them and the foreign fighters.

Critics say the pacts risked creating a sanctuary for al Qaeda and the Taliban, but the military said the clashes in South Waziristan showed the strategy was working.

PREVIOUS POSTS ON THE TRIBAL STRATEGY - WHICH APPEARS TO BE WORKING IN THE SUNNI TRIANGLE OF IRAQ AS WELL AS IN PAKISTAN - HERE AND HERE AND HERE AND HERE AND HERE. ORIGINAL POST HERE.