WANA, Aug 6: Commander of the 'mujahideen' in the volatile South Waziristan tribal region on Friday vowed to continue attacking Pakistani forces so long as they were aided and abetted by American troops.

"We are not against Pakistan Army. We don't intend to attack Pakistani forces. We attack them because there are American and British troops operating with them," Haji Muhammad Omar, commander of the 'local mujahideen' in South Waziristan, told Dawn in an exclusive interview.

The 45-year-old Omar, who succeeded Commander Nek Muhammad who was killed in a guided missile attack on June 18, claimed that his mujahideen had seen American and British forces operating alongside Pakistani troops launching operations against them in Shakai, Santoi and Mantoi.

The government has been denying presence of foreign forces on Pakistani soil and insisting that all operations are being planned and executed by its own security forces in its 'own national interest.'

Omar, who besides his native Pushto also speaks Arabic, Persian and Urdu, avoided recording of his interview, saying this could compromise his own security since he was on the satellite phone almost all the time.

Nek Muhammad is widely believed to have been killed while on a satellite phone with a friend. Haji Omar said that packed foodstuff seized by his 'mujahideen' following attacks on Pakistani forces in Shakai and Baghar areas recently led them to believe that there were American and British forces operating alongside Pakistani troops.

"The packed foodstuff that our mujahideen seized from the army in Shakai and Baghar were similar to those our people had seen in Paktika (Afghanistan)." "This proves that besides Pakistani troops there are American and British troops operating against us," he said.

Surrounded by a dozen of his heavily armed guards at an apple orchard in Azam Warsak, the seemingly-relaxed Yagulkhel Wazir tribesman, who had once led a group of mujahideen from South Waziristan to mount an attack on Kabul just before the fall of former communist regime of Dr Najibullah, boasted about the reach of his worldwide network.

"We are not confined to Wana alone. Our reach is very long. We have our network the world over," he claimed. "Let the Pakistanis and Americans know that they cannot eliminate us. Our Jihad will continue as long as the Americans are there in Afghanistan. They cannot eliminate us. Our fate rests with Allah," he said.

Omar denied there were foreign militants in the tribal region and insisted that all attacks on security forces were being launched by what he called local mujahideen. He also did not spare the six-party religious alliance and accused them of having compromised jihad for their own vested interests.

"They have abandoned jihad for the sake of power," he said. "Those who would preach us jihad day in and day out have abandoned their path in order to stay in power and seek personal benefits."