April 18, 2008	Friday	Rabi-us-Sani 11, 1429

LANDI KOTAL, April 17: The Jamrud sub-district of Khyber tribal region was calm but tense on Thursday after a night of gunbattle between an armed vigilante group and a tribal clan had left at least five people dead and several others wounded.

An undeclared ceasefire took effect on Thursday morning between Lashkar-i-Islam, led by Mangal Bagh, and the Kukikhel sub-clan of the Afridi tribe in Jamrud, not far from Peshawar.

The truce, announced by the self-styled chief of Lashkar-i-Islam on his FM radio, brought some relief to the people of Jamrud and upscale residential town of Hayatabad in Peshawar, who had spent a sleepless night amid thuds and whistling sounds of flying rockets and staccato bursts of Kalashnikovs.

The so-called international highway that connects Pakistan with Afghanistan remained shut for six days and the authorities appeared helpless in restoring order.

The government has been grappling with the issue of reining in Mangal Bagh and his armed brigade for three years as he has gradually extended his influence from Bara sub-district to Jamrud.

A large number of residents of Wazir Dhand, Shah Kas and Takhta Beg moved to safe places because of Wednesday night’s fierce fighting which left at least five people dead and more than a dozen injured from both sides. A number of houses were destroyed.

Paramilitary forces took control of the Wazir Dhand market and adjoining residential area inhabited by some influential Kukikhel elders. The newly built palatial residence of late Haji Zahir Shah was also damaged in the fighting.