Hundreds of Taliban rallied in a Pakistani tribal town on Monday, condemning the killing of Osama bin Laden and vowing to avenge the Al-Qaeda chief’s death, local officials said.
Chanting slogans denouncing Pakistan and the United States, the protesters gathered in Wana, the main town in South Waziristan where they forced the market to close and then held a meeting in a nearby madrassa, they said.
It was the first pro-bin Laden demonstration in Pakistan’s tribal belt, which Washington has called a headquarters of Al-Qaeda, since US commandos flew into Pakistan last week, killed bin Laden and flew off with his body.
The protesters, believed to be more than 500, were mostly supporters or members of Pakistani Taliban commander Maulvi Nazir’s group, which supports Afghan Taliban, officials told AFP.
A small number of local people also participated, they added.
“Osama bin Laden was our leader. We are his followers and we will continue to pursue his movement,” pro-Taliban cleric Maulvi Ibrahim told the gathering.
“We will take revenge from Pakistan and America. We have already started it and recent attacks in Kandahar and other places in Afghanistan were to avenge of his martyrdom,” he said.