WANA, April 3: Tribal leaders on Saturday rushed hundreds of armed men to remote villages near the Afghan border to hunt down Al Qaeda fighters as authorities set a new deadline for their surrender, local leaders said.

The tribal lashkar headed to the borderlands with a mission to conduct a house-to-house search to purge South Waziristan region of foreign terrorists, tribal leader Malik Shireen Jan said.

He said the decision to raise the lashkar was agreed at a meeting of hundreds of tribal elders in Wana. The meeting was also joined by some 5,000 local tribesmen, he said.

"The gathering was unanimous that the presence of Al Qaeda members is fraught with dangers for the tribal population. We have therefore decided to use force against them," he said.

He said the tribal gathering also issued an ultimatum to foreigners to quit the Pakistani territory by Sunday and asked local sympathisers who played host to Al-Qaeda fugitives to surrender over the next 24 hours.

"If any local provided food or shelter or extended any cooperation to the foreign terrorists, the tribal lashkar is empowered to demolish his house in addition to imposing a million-rupee fine."

Elders have also asked all tribes in South Waziristan to identify Al Qaeda sympathisers so that the lashkar can arrest and hand them over to the authorities, he added.-Agencies