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Pro-govt lashkars might also ‘bite the hand that feeds’

* Army detains AP reporting team for 12 hours, seizes cell phones
* Pak Army spokesman denies links with Abdullah or Bhittani militias

DERA ISMAIL KHAN: They wear their hair and beards long, Taliban style, and support attacks on US and NATO troops in Afghanistan. Yet the fighters are tolerated and – many believe – backed by Pakistan because they share a common enemy: the country's most deadly terror network.

Pro-government militias like this one on the border of FATA are an important plank in the campaign against the Pakistani Taliban following the slaying of its chief, Baitullah Mehsud, in a CIA missile strike last month.

They know the enemy and the terrain, need no motivation and their willingness to fight means fewer army casualties. And with the Pakistani Taliban ranks said to be in disarray following the death of their leader, some of their fighters could be persuaded to change sides and join them.

But critics say Pakistan risks creating a monster by linking up with them and other militias. While tribal feuding ensures they are enemies of Baitullah's men for now, they are cut from the same militant cloth he was. Any alliance with the state could be temporary, and one day authorities could find themselves fighting their former proxies.

The US will be particularly concerned with the militia in Dera Ismail Khan because it still espouses militancy.

Detained: Fighters from the Abdullah Mehsud militia met The Associated Press at their headquarters in the city.

"Baitullah's fighters are killing common men," said Baz Muhammad, a top commander flanked by heavily armed fighters. Hours after visiting the headquarters, an AP reporting team was detained by the army for 12 hours at a hotel and its members had their cell phones seized. They were released on condition that they left the town and returned to the capital immediately.

No formal reason was given for the detention, but a military official in Islamabad later said local authorities – who are on the lookout for foreign terrorists – were concerned about the team's identities.

No links: Pakistan Army spokesman Major General Athar Abbas denied the military had any links with the Abdullah militia and another pro-government group led by Turkistan Bhittani in the nearby town of Tank.

Abbas acknowledged the fighters were useful in the battle against the Pakistani Taliban. Observers say there is little doubt the militias have received or continue to receive support from security agencies, either cash, weapons or logistics.

Muhammad said more of Baitullah's men were joining him now that their leader was dead, a claim that could not be verified, but one that analysts said was plausible.

Questions remain about the unity of the groups lined up against the Taliban. Muhammad spoke in scathing terms of Bhittani and said he would not cooperate with him.

Muhammad and the leader of a related militia, Baba Waziristan, said they planned a major offensive after the end of Ramzan. Baba said he was working to unite all three in the fight against Baitullah.

Syed Fayyaz Hussain Bukhari, a respected Shia in DI Khan, said he feared Pakistani sponsorship of the militia could mean problems in the future. “This group has been created for a special purpose. Once that has been achieved, what will they do?" he said. ap

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