Pakistan tribesmen battle Taliban

Dozens of people were injured in the attack on the mosque

Hundreds of tribesmen are continuing an offensive against Taliban militants in north-west Pakistan for a third day, killing 11 rebels, officials say.

The assault comes after the bombing of a mosque on Friday, which killed 38 people in Hayagai Sharki village in Upper Dir district.

The villagers have blamed the bombing on the Taliban hiding in the area.

Nearby Swat valley has been the scene of heavy fighting between the Pakistani military and Taliban militants.

Upper Dir has also been the scene of sporadic clashes between the two.

'Tough fight'

Nearly 400 tribesmen attacked five villages in the Dhok Darra area locally thought to be militant strongholds, the Associated Press news agency quoted Atif-ur-Rehman, the district coordination officer, as saying.

The citizens' militia has occupied three of the villages since Saturday and were trying to push the Taliban out of two others on Sunday, he said.

Some 20 houses of local tribesmen suspected of harbouring Taliban fighters were destroyed, the official said.

"It is something very positive that tribesmen are standing against the militants. It will discourage the miscreants," Mr Rehman said.

At least 11 militants had been killed by Sunday afternoon, AP quoted district police chief Ejaz Ahmad as saying.

He said around 200 militants were putting up a tough fight but were surrounded by the villagers.

The government has encouraged local citizens to set up militias, known as lashkars, to fight the Taliban in the region bordering Afghanistan where al-Qaeda and the Taliban are known to have hideouts.

There has been broad public support for the the army's offensive against the Taliban in Swat valley, including from opposition parties, the media, and even some religious leaders, correspondents say.

Public opinion appears to have generally shifted against the Swat Taliban since they broke a peace deal earlier this year.

Escalating violence

Friday's bomb explosion at a mosque during Friday prayers killed at least 38 people and wounded dozens more.

Police said a suicide bomber detonated explosives at the mosque in Hayagai Sharki village, about 15km from the town of Upper Dir.

There has been no claim of responsibility for the blast, but the northwest region as a whole has witnessed a number of suicide attacks linked to the Taliban insurgency.

In March, about 50 people died in a suicide bomb attack at a mosque near Jamrud, on the Khyber Pass route to Afghanistan.

There are fears of a militant backlash in response to the army's military campaign in Swat, analysts say.

In recent days the army has captured a number of militant strongholds as it continues its offensive.

More than two million people have been displaced by the fighting in the neighbouring Swat valley.