Pashtun tribes seen as key to Afghan peace

By Sayed Salahuddin

KABUL (Reuters) - Everyone agrees that ethnic Pashtun tribes along the Pakistani border are key to bringing an end to Afghanistan's war but no one seems to be able to agree on how the Pashtuns might unlock the door to peace.

Most members of the Taliban are Pashtun, Afghanistan's biggest ethnic group, and most Pashtuns live in the south and east where the Taliban insurgency is at its worst.

Pashtuns also live over the border in violence-plagued regions of northwest Pakistan, where they too are fiercely independent-minded, well-armed, conservative Muslims.

President Hamid Karzai, who is also Pashtun, has for several years called for revival of tribal militias to help fight the Taliban, supplying leaders with small arms and money.

But the proposal is bitterly opposed by many members of parliament, who say it would be a huge mistake that could easily backfire and end up helping the Taliban.

The Taliban insurgency has intensified as the number of foreign troops has gone up to 70,000 and U.S. military officials have conceded that the United States is not winning.

U.S. military leaders are also paying more attention to the tribes after some success in Iraq where the so-called Awakening Council movement began with Sunni tribesmen in western Iraq joining U.S. forces against al Qaeda militants.

The top commander of NATO and U.S. forces in Afghanistan this week recommended a plan to stem the growing violence by empowering local leaders and promoting reconciliation.