Something is definitely still brewing or boiling in the lawless regions of Pakistan along the Afghan border. It seems fighting has broken out in the Khyber Agency of the Federally Administered Tribal Areas (FATA) between Islamo Fascist militants and local tribes along a key transportation line between Afghanistan and Pakistan:

At least 20 people were killed and dozens injured in overnight clashes between tribesmen and followers of a radical cleric in a Pakistani tribal area bordering Afghanistan, media reports said.

The fighting between the militiamen of Lashkar Islami, or the Army of Islam, and the tribesmen began late Wednesday and continued Thursday morning in the Khyber Agency.

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Lashkar Islami is lead by firebrand cleric Mangal Bagh, who follows the puritanical Deobandi form of Sunni Islam. The leadership of Afghanistan and Pakistan’s Taliban movement belongs to the same sect.

He has tried to enforce strict Taliban-style Islam in the region, provoking the tribesmen.

One cannot help but notice the echo of the Anbar Awakening in Iraq when the local Sunni tribes decided they had had enough of al-Qaeda’s brutality and started to rise up against al-Qaeda. Clearly al-Qaeda and the extremist Taliban associates are not welcomed and are not receiving sanctuary as many have assumed. More here on a possible push by the Pakistani security forces:

Fighting erupted between Lashkar-e-Islam cadres led by cleric Mangal Bagh Afridi and Kooki Khel tribesmen on wednesday following three days of tension.

The two sides have been at loggerheads since the Kooki Khel tribe refused to accept 30 demands made by Afridi, including an end to “immoral and un-Islamic activities”.

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Official sources said 17 personnel of the Khasadar militia were also kidnapped from a check post by Afridi’s followers. The Lashkar-e-Islam chief gave a deadline for security forces and the political administration to vacate Jamrud, the main town of Khyber Agency, by 4 pm today.

Reports suggested that the security forces could launch a major operation in Khyber Agency to quell the activities of Lashkar-e-Islam militants. The Frontier Corps shelled militant positions but there were no reports of casualties.

And as this report notes the Khyber pass is an important transportation line that some suspect has been the path militants take between the two countries:

The highway connecting Afghanistan to Pakistan was shut down following the incident, leaving the supply route for NATO forces cut off.

Khyber Pass is the most important pass between Pakistan and Afghanistan. Invaders historically used the pass to reach Afghanistan and India. The pass, which is controlled by Pakistan, have both strategic and commercial significance.

This infighting inside the enclaves of the Islamo Fascists is exactly how the Awakening in Iraq began that led to al-Qaeda being purged from that country and becoming the enemy of Islam, not the future of Islam. It is possible the same pattern is repeating in Pakistan. This is not the first (or would I bet the last) report of fighting between local tribes and the brutal Islamo Fascists in Pakistan.

Update: This editorial from Pakistan emphasizes that the fighting in the Khyber Agency is in fact a backlash against the Islamic extremists:

The eradication of extremism from our society, especially the tribal areas, remains an unfinished business, one manifestation of which is the ongoing clashes between two groups in the Khyber Agency. At least 20 people have been killed and several injured as a result of fierce clashes between the militants of Lashkar-e-Islam (LI) and Kokikhel tribesmen in Jamrud tehsil. Newspaper reports say heavy fighting continued between the two groups late at night on Wednesday. What is more alarming is the fact that the fighting spread as far as the settled areas of Hayatabad. The self-proclaimed head of LI, Mangal Bagh, has been a headache for Kokikhel tribesmen who allege that he has occupied their territory. To show their resentment against the excesses of the LI and to press the government forces to take action, a jirga held by the Shinwari and Shalmani tribes decided to continue the blockade of the Pak-Afghan highway. That Mangal Bagh has been able to dig up his heels in the area, while also running a radio station through which he has warned the security forces, points to the lack of security and intelligence apparatus. That the LI has held sway over the area is proved by the fact that it held the security personnel hostage near a check post. The local tribesmen have said no to Mangal Bagh’s version of religious teachings, which they regard as an extremist’s interpretation of Islam. Mangal Bagh presents an open challenge to the writ of the state forcing the local people to take action against any illegal activities such as smuggling, etc., and issuing directions to be followed by the local people. Hundreds of local people, including women and children, had to leave their houses for safe areas in Peshawar.

Clearly one tribe has had its Awakening and is overtly resisting radical Islamic forces. Only time will tell on how far this spreads and how much it damages al-Qaeda and the extreme elements of the Taliban.