WASHINGTON, Oct 23: Pakistan plans to arm tens of thousands of tribesmen in Fata to fight Taliban and Al Qaeda militants, senior Pakistan officials said on Thursday.

The US military, which used Iraqi tribesmen to fight Al Qaeda, supports this plan hoping to replicate its success in Iraq.

The militias, called lashkars, will receive Chinese-made AK-47 assault rifles and other small arms.Pakistani officials told the Post that President Asif Ali Zardari arranged the purchase of these weapons during a visit to Beijing earlier this month.

The decision to arm the lashkars is one of several recent actions that have led the Pentagon to believe that the Pakistani effort has become more aggressive, the officials said.

The emergence in Pakistan of the lashkars, headed by tribal elders who are said to resent the intrusion of the Taliban and Al Qaeda, began in earnest over the summer.

So far, three lashkars, totalling as many as 14,000 men, have been established in Bajaur.In the Orakzai agency, tribal leaders have amassed an estimated 4,000 indigenous fighters; an additional 7,000 are said to have enlisted in Dir, a tribal region just outside the Fata boundary.