Thousands of armed tribesmen headed to Afghanistan today as Pakistan worried about an exodus of refugees heading the other direction to flee heavy bombing that caused mounting casualties.
News that Pashtun tribesmen from neighboring Pakistan were rallying to the Taliban was another blow to US efforts to track down Saudi-born Osama bin Laden and his alQaeda extremist network, blamed for the terrorist attacks in the United States.
"Led by Soofi Mohammad, head of Tehreek Nifaz-e-Sharia Mohammadi (movement for enforcement of Islamic Sharia law), the tribesmen are close to the Afghan border in Bajaur tribal area," an interior ministry official told AFP in Islamabad.
A spokesman for the movement, contacted at the border area by telephone, said the tribesmen numbered around 10,000.
Local authorities said they were unsure how to deal with the armed crowd expected to enter Afghanistan on Sunday.
Police in the vicinity said the tribesmen were carrying Kalashnikov assault rifles, small machine guns, rocket launchers and locally manufactured shotguns.
As the tribesmen headed toward Afghanistan, tens of thousands of civilians, fleeing the continuing bombing, sought to get out.
The United Nations estimates that 1.5 million Afghans could be driven out by the conflict.
Pakistan has come under pressure to allow the refugees in, but fears for its own stability as anger at the US bombing spreads among its own population, as demonstrated when 50,000 people protested in Karachi on Friday in the biggest display yet of anti-American anger since the strikes began.
President Pervez Musharraf of Pakistan warned that his country would be unable to cope with the rising tide of refugees.
"There will be social and economic problems. Do we want another two million refugees?" he said.
In an interview aired on the ABC News network late Friday, Musharraf also bemoaned the "excessive collateral damage" caused by the US-led bombing campaign and called for the strikes to end before the Muslim holy period of Ramadan, which will start in mid-November.
The Afghan exodus, reports of significant civilian casualties and bombing mistakes have led to mounting criticism of the US-led air campaign, though the Pentagon has repeatedly dismissed Taliban claims of about 1,000 fatalities.
AFP
