PESHAWAR, March 20: With their long flowing hair, beards and boots, they could resemble the hippies of yesteryears. Except that these hippies from the wild western borderland of Pakistan are gun-toting, rocket-carrying militants ready to kill or be killed.

The hippies of the 60s were pacifists but these turban-wearing, young tribal Taliban are as wild as their looks would suggest. But one thing they have in common — a love for hashish.

Welcome to the restive South Waziristan, the heartland of the tribal militants, where a group of the local Taliban have not only taken up arms against the government but also turned their guns against their own ilk for threatening to close down hashish shops. They have done so in Karikot, Azam Warsak, Shah Alam, Raghzai Ghwakhwa, Spin Tanai and Dabkot. Defiance of their attempts has come not from the owners or operators of the shops, but from some of the Taliban’s own ranks.

A militant commander, Ghulam Jan, recently warned hashish shop owners to close down their business or face punishment as Islam prohibited the use and sale of drugs. Worried, the shop owners gathered to ponder over the situation and find a remedy. They were pleasantly surprised to find that they were not alone.

Soon a group of about 200 hashish-loving Taliban gathered and nominated their own commander, Ilyas, to fend off pressure against the drug, according to locals. An official report, however, put the figure at more than 500.

The row began, according to locals, when commander Ghulam Jan seized one Gulab, a local drug peddler, who sold hashish from a room inside a government school in Karikot near Wana, headquarters of South Waziristan.

Ilyas gathered a group of his supporting Taliban at Laman, about 15km to the south of Wana. In line with tribal tradition, the armed men were feasted on lamb and rice.

Their concern was common — the threat to hashish shops in Waziristan. So a message was given out to the ‘other’ Taliban: “Lay off.”

Money was pooled, helped of course by owners of the hashish shops. Together, they have bought two vehicles, including a pick-up truck, to provide a security cover to the shops.

Locals said that Taliban against the closure are as good fighters as anybody else. Some of them are veterans too, like Ilyas, who is in his mid-40s. They have battled the Northern Alliance and are now fighting the US-led coalition forces in what they believe is a jihad.

The commander of these rag-tag militants himself fought at Bagram against the Taliban. A former sportsman at the South Waziristan Scouts, Iyas has left his job to take up arms in support of the Taliban.

After a hard battle with their enemies, these Taliban like to sit together, fill a cigarette and then take turns to have a puff.

So endemic and acceptable is this that according to eyewitnesses, commanders or the amirs of these Taliban either condone the practice or simply look the other way.

Locals said that Ilyas is under pressure to give up support to the hashish sellers. He is said to have come under pressure from Javed Karmazkhel, his cousin and known militant commander, to abandon the hashish-smoking Taliban.

Ghulam Jan appears to be leaning on Karmazkhel to dissuade Ilyas. For now there is a stalemate.

But this situation, government officials and tribesmen in Wana agree, is unlikely to cause any rift between the mainstream Taliban and their hashish-loving armed comrades. For their goal is one, when it comes to jihad.

For now the hashish shops are open, although barbers in nearby shops are forbidden to shave beards or play music.