Pakistani forces killed a top tribal warrior and four comrades in overnight raids on a mud compound in a remote tribal region bordering Afghanistan, officials said yesterday.
Nek Mohammad, who protected al-Qaeda-linked foreign militants in the semi-autonomous South Waziristan tribal belt, was killed near the region's main town of Wana, 400km southwest of Islamabad, an intelligence official said requesting anonymity.
Military spokesman Major General Shaukat Sultan said the military attacked Mohammad's hideout overnight after receiving reports that he had taken refuge there.
"He has been killed with four other terrorists," Sultan said in Islamabad. "It is a big success in the war against terror," he added, refusing to give further details of the operation.
Pakistan has been battling al-Qaeda-linked militants and tribesmen sheltering them for months in a campaign to rid the country of Islamic radicals.
Up to 600 foreign militants, including Uzbeks, Arabs and Che-chens who joined the US-funded insurgency against Soviet forces in Afghanistan in the 1980s, are believed to be living in tribal areas, although dozens have been killed in recent clashes.
Thousands of mourners gathered for Mohammad's funeral in the village of Kalosha, near Wana. People wept and many at first refused to believe the turbaned and black-bearded 27-year-old had been killed. His body lay on a low cot wrapped in a white sheet, his face showing scars and bruises, witnesses said.
Mohammad Noor, a local tribesman who saw the warrior die in hospital, said he had lost a leg in overnight fighting and one arm was badly wounded.
"He was a brave man," said Noor. "His last words were `Allahu Akbar' [God is Greatest]."
The death of Mohammad raises fresh fears of a violent backlash by militants in Pakistani cities, senior officials said.
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