MIRAMSHAH, Dec 7: A night-long clash between local militants and a group of alleged gangsters here left at least 14 people dead and three others wounded. Officials and eyewitnesses told Dawn on Wednesday that 11 of the dead were associates of a local gangster and three were militants, usually called Taliban in the tribal region.

The Taliban also set on fire 25 houses of the rival group and took away household items and cattle.

The political authorities withdrew the Khasadar Force from the town immediately after the clash started.

Residents said that paramilitary Frontier Corps and army troops stationed in the headquarters of the tribal North Waziristan Agency remained confined to their bases and did not intervene.

Hundreds of Taliban fired in the air after subduing their rivals. They dragged the bodies of their rivals and later hung three of the bodies on electricity poles.

Till the filing of this report the three bodies were still hanging on the poles, one of them upside down. Residents celebrated the killing of gangsters.

The scene was a grim reminder of the Taliban takeover of Kabul when they executed and hung the body of the former Afghan president Najibullah on a pole, an official remarked.

About 600 Taliban armed with rocket-launchers and assault rifles took control of the Miramshah bazaar. They took away the bodies from the town committee and brought them to the Eidgah for public display.

Armed students on pick-up trucks chanting “God is great” patrolled the streets and carried out house-to-house search for members of the rival group and warned the locals against sheltering their enemies.

With the firing of guns and heavy weapons all around, frightened residents of the town remained indoors.

Sources said that the clash erupted when a group of alleged gangsters headed by local tribesman Mohammad Hakeem shot dead a seminary student on Tuesday afternoon when he refused to stop at a checkpost to pay ‘protection money’.

Hakeem has already served two months in jail for his alleged involvement cases of robbery and extortion.

As the news of the student’s death spread, hundreds of armed Taliban from local seminaries emerged on the streets of the town and the fighting started.

The two sides attacked each other’s positions with rockets and heavy machine-guns.

Witnesses said that three Taliban and six people on the other side were killed on the spot.

Taliban captured five members of the gang and shot them dead.

Hospital sources said that two children and a seminary student had been seriously wounded.

Armed Taliban were holding their positions till late evening.

The sources said that supporters of Mohammad Hakeem had set up checkposts on various routes of the city and were extorting money from local people and outsiders.

Despite complaints lodged with the local authorities no action was taken against the group, they said.

Also on Wednesday, suspected militants fired rockets at the Miramshah air strip from Dattakhel area. The rockets landed in the periphery and did not cause any damage.