Tribal backlash follows bin Laden hunt

WANA, Pakistan -- Hundreds of frightened residents streamed out of a remote tribal village Wednesday as enraged tribesmen torched military vehicles, a day after 39 people were killed in a bloody crackdown by Pakistani forces on al-Qaida and Taliban fugitives near the lawless Afghan border.

The tribesmen set fire late Tuesday and early Wednesday to more than a dozen military vehicles -- some loaded with ammunition -- and two artillery guns, residents and an intelligence official said on condition of anonymity.

Mosque loudspeakers blared a warning from authorities that residents must leave the besieged village of Kaloosha because of the continuing violence, and many appeared to be heeding the call.

One person who fled early Wednesday said hundreds of the village's 6,000 residents left in an exodus that began late Tuesday.

"People are scared. People are worried," Eid Gul said after arriving in Wana, the main town in the tribal South Waziristan region, a few miles east of Kaloosha.

The area, which has resisted outside intervention for centuries, is believed to be a likely hiding place for al-Qaida terror chief Osama bin Laden.

Secretary of State Colin Powell, who is visiting the region, applauded the Pakistani sweep at a news conference in the Afghan capital, Kabul.

"We regret the loss of Pakistani life in this effort but it shows, I think, good intentions on the part of Pakistan not to allow these tribal areas to be used as a haven for the Taliban," Powell said.

Powell said he would discuss the Kaloosha operation with President Gen. Pervez Musharraf today in Islamabad.

At least 15 paramilitary soldiers and 24 suspects -- including some foreigners presumed to be members of al-Qaida -- were killed in the Tuesday raid on a mud-brick compound, a Pakistani army spokesman said.

Across the border in Afghanistan, U.S. forces have also begun a major operation to capture terror fugitives, including bin Laden and Taliban leader Mullah Omar.

Powell sidestepped a question about whether U.S. forces would ever enter Pakistan in "hot pursuit" of terror suspects fleeing Afghanistan, saying, "Nothing would be done along the border that is not done in coordination with both sovereigns."

The subject of "hot pursuit" is a delicate one in Pakistan, where public opinion strongly opposes allowing American forces on national soil.

Musharraf promised Monday to rid the tribal areas of foreign terrorists, and the Kaloosha raid was a stunning and rapid effort to make good on that pledge.

Suspected terrorists and the tribesmen accused of harboring them fired on troops from the compound and from nearby hills.

"They were in groups. They were all around. They fired from the mountains and from houses," Brig. Mahmood Shah, the security chief in the tribal region, told The Associated Press on Wednesday.

It was unclear who was inside the compound, but it was believed to belong to one of seven tribesmen from the Yargul Khel clan accused of harboring al-Qaida and Taliban suspects. The seven have refused to surrender to authorities.

The majority of those killed appeared to be tribesmen, but Sultan said several of the dead also were foreigners presumed to be members of al-Qaida. There was no indication any senior al-Qaida or Taliban leaders were among the dead.

The Pakistani military has conducted a series of sweeps in the tribal regions, where it hasHJ'XrJHfZJn'X"'LdFJf 1/4jfPBddBLBFV 1/4nXJHNJHLdhPJLRdfhhRZJ 1/4HBrhPBhj"Zl"LdJRN 1/4ers were sheltering in the region.

Authorities in the southern city of Karachi tightened security on Wednesday, fearing terrorists might retaliate for the operation in South Waziristan, although there have been no specific threats.

Police were checking vehicles for weapons at major traffic intersections and near foreign consulates and foreign businesses, said Tariq Jamil, deputy inspector general of operations of Karachi police.

On Monday, police defused a large car bomb outside the U.S. Consulate in Karachi just minutes before it was timed to detonate.