By Anwarullah Khan
KHAR, Pakistan, Oct 31 (Reuters) - Over 15,000 armed Pakistani tribesmen protested on Tuesday against a Pakistan Army helicopter attack on an al-Qaeda-linked madrasa in Bajaur tribal region that killed around 80 suspected militants.
Chants of "Down with America" and "Down with Musharraf" rang out as the tribesmen gathered in Khar, the main town in the tribal region close to the Afghan border in protest against Pakistan's deadliest air strike.
"Our jihad (holy war) will continue and Inshallah (God willing) people will go to Afghanistan to oust American and British forces," Maulana Faqir Mohammad, a pro-Taliban cleric told the crowd of turbaned tribals, many carrying Kalashnikovs and wearing bandoliers, and a few shouldering rocket launchers.
While the government claimed the madrasa was being used to train militants, protesters say the dead, mostly young men aged between 15 and 25, were merely students.
Nowhere is President Pervez Musharraf's alliance with the United States in a war on terrorism more unpopular than in the Pashtun tribal belt straddling the Pakistan-Afghan border.
A mountainous region that is difficult to access, Bajaur lies opposite Afghanistan's eastern province of Kunar, where U.S. troops are hunting al Qaeda and Taliban militants.
Along with North and South Waziristan, Bajaur is regarded as a hotbed of support for the Taliban leader Mullah Mohammad Omar and al Qaeda chief Osama bin Laden.
A large number of fighters took refuge in the semi-autonomous tribal lands after U.S. backed forces drove them from Afghanistan in the wake of the Sept. 11 attacks on the United States.
The tribals in Khar demonstrated their loyalty with shouts of "Long Live Osama" and "Long Live Mullah Omar". Similar protests were held in other parts of North West Frontier Province.
A planned visit by Britain's Prince Charles and his wife Camilla to the NWFP capital of Peshawar on Tuesday was cancelled due to security concerns, as Islamists planned demonstrations.
U.S. INVOLVEMENT DENIED
The government had been trying to win support from Bajaur's tribal elders for a pact similar to accords already brokered in Waziristan to end the militancy, but Monday's airstrike appeared to end hopes of a quick deal.
U.S. forces in Afghanistan say insurgent activity increased sharply after Pakistan agreed a truce in North Waziristan.
Islamist politicians said the attack on the madrasa was actually carried out by a U.S. Predator drone aircraft, and the Pakistani military is covering up its acquiesence by claiming to have carried out the attack.
Pakistan and the U.S. military in Afghanistan denied an American television news channel report that a U.S. drone fired on the madrasa.
ABC News, citing anonymous Pakistani intelligence officials, reported that the attack was prompted by information that al Qaeda Number 2, Ayman al-Zawahri, may have been in the school.
Pakistan's military spokesman insisted, however, the attack was carried out by Pakistani army helicopters.
"We reject this report. Our forces carried out the strike and all resources used in the strike were at our disposal," Major-General Shaukat Sultan said.
Sultan said he had no information of any prominent militant leaders being present, though Pakistani intelligence officials told Reuters that Maulana Liaqatullah, the pro-Taliban cleric running the school was killed in the attack.
A U.S. military spokesman in Afghanistan denied any involvement in the airstrike.
"I can assure you without doubt that the United States military in Afghanistan had nothing to do with that attack," Colonel Tom Collins said.
Last January, a CIA-operated Predator drone aircraft missile attack targeted Zawahri in Damadola, another village near the Afghan border in Bajaur. Intelligence officials said a handful of al Qaeda operatives invited to a parley by Liaqatullah and Mohammad were killed, but Zawahri was not present.
