Pakistan revives tribal militias but risks backlash

By Zeeshan Haider

PESHAWAR, Pakistan (Reuters) - Pakistani authorities are encouraging Pashtun tribesmen on the Afghan border to revive traditional militias to counter rising Islamist militancy but analysts fear the move could backfire if not properly handled.

Under a centuries-old tradition, ethnic Pashtun tribes raise militias, known as lashkars, in their semi-autonomous regions to fight criminal gangs and enforce their tribal codes.

Pakistan, a front-line U.S. ally against al Qaeda and Taliban militants, has been under tremendous U.S. pressure to root out Taliban and al Qaeda militants responsible for rising violence in Afghanistan as well as in Pakistan.

The Pakistani military has sent more than 80,000 troops to the northwestern Pashtun lands along the Afghan border and launched offensives in two areas in August.

Authorities are now nudging the fiercely independent tribesmen, who carry guns as a symbol of honour, to raise their lashkars to reinforce the military's efforts.

"Now the Pashtun people themselves have risen against those who have turned their lives into hell," said Mian Iftikhar Hussain, information minister of North Western Frontier Province.

"The threat of militants cannot be countered without the support of the people. These people need to be organised and we support any such move," he told Reuters.

Pakistani officials say they plan to supply assault rifles to thousands of tribesmen to fight the militants.