Army Claims Gains Against Foreign Fighters In South Waziristan

WANA , PAKISTAN - APRIL 11: A river valley cuts through the rugged terrain near Wana April 11, 2007 in Pakistan's South Waziristan tribal area near the Afghan border. The Pakistani army said that a force of some 1,000 tribesman in the area drove out Uzbek militants allied with Al Qaeda from the area, in an operation they say could be a model for clearing foreign fighters out of all the tribal areas. Local tribesman had been sheltering hundreds of foreign militants after they fled Afghanistan when the U.S. toppled the Taliban regime in 2001. The Pakistani government has said that the tribesmen's efforts vindicate its policy of signing peace deals with the ethnic Pashtun clans of the region, despite criticism from Western allies. (Photo by John Moore/Getty Images)