Following the discovery of over a dozen mutilated dead bodies, either beheaded or with their throats slit, of para-military personnel captured earlier by the men of Baitullah Mehsud, the para-military forces ran amok. Some surrendered to the terrorists, others discarded their uniforms and took shelter in the homes of the residents of the area and some others went on a killing spree, indiscriminately killing the local villagers and the Uzbeks, Chechens and Uighurs living in Mir Ali.
The Pakistani security forces retaliated initially with ground troops and helicopter gunships. Subsequently, unable to prevail over the jihadi forces, they called for an airstrike. Maj-Gen Waheed Arshad, an Army spokesman, claimed in a TV interview that the aircraft of the Pakistan Air Force targeted militant hideouts and struck "one or two places" near Mir Ali. The local villagers said that PAF aircraft also bombed a village near Mir Ali called Hader Khel. There was a large number of fatalities of innocent civilians on October9, 2007, when some bombs fell on a crowded village market. At the time of the recording of this note, clashes continue in the area.
Till March, 2007, Mir Ali used to be the headquarters of the Islamic Jihad Group, a break-away group of the IMU. It is also known as the Islamic JihadUnion. It ran a number of training camps there where jihadis from many Western countries, including Germany, China's Xinjiang, and Pakistan itself were trained by Uzbek and Chechen instructors. The IMU's headquarters used to be in the Azam Warsak area of South Waziristan. This area became the scene of violent attacks by sections of the local tribals on the Uzbeks living in the area following the alleged murder of a local tribal personality by an Uzbek resident of the area in the third week of March,2007. In the ensuing clashes, nearly 100 persons werekilled--about 70 Uzbeks and the remaining locals mainly belonging to the Darikhel and the Tojikhel sub-tribes of the Pashtuns. The Yargulkhel sub-tribe led by Noor Islam and his brother Haji Omar, two important pro-Taliban military commanders who had once fought in Afghanistan, supported the Uzbeks in their fight against the Darikhels and the Tojkhels. Some Yargulkhels were also killed. Ultimately, the IMU was forced to evacuate South Waziristan and shift to Mir Ali.
It would be useful to read my report following this: Mir Ali Under Uzbek Control