கைபர் பகுதியில் இரண்டு முஸ்லீம் பயங்கரவாத குழுக்கள் மோதியதில் 15 பேர் பலி

கைபர் பகுதியில் இரண்டு முஸ்லீம் பயங்கரவாத குழுக்கள் மோதியதில் 15 பேர் பலி
Rival militants battle in Pakistan's Khyber region
Sun Jun 22, 2008 10:48am BST

LANDIKOTAL, Pakistan (Reuters) - Pakistani militant factions clashed in the Khyber region near the Afghan border on Sunday as the toll from two days of fighting rose to up to 15 dead and dozens wounded, a government official said.

The region, home to the Khyber Pass through which vital supplies for Western forces in Afghanistan pass, had been virtually free of militant violence until this year but security has deteriorated in recent months.

The latest violence began on Saturday when loyalists of one militant leader, Mangal Bagh, who is vying to control the area, attacked a stronghold of rivals led by Ustad Mehboob in the Teerah Valley.

The two sides were fighting with rifles, mortars and rocket-propelled grenades and there were conflicting accounts of casualties.

"There's a lot of speculation but we have reports of 12 to 15 dead, from both sides, and dozens wounded," said a government official in the region who declined to be identified.

Mehmoob's group, Ansar-ul-Islam, said over its FM radio station they had killed 18 members of Bagh's Lashkar-e-Islami and captured 10.

The fighting was not near the main road through the Khyber Pass to the Afghan border but residents said more militants had recently been using the road, adding to a sense of insecurity.

Pakistan's ambassador to Afghanistan was kidnapped in February