Pressed by military and partly disgusted by brutality exercised by Taliban and al-Qaeda fighters, Pakistani tribesmen are rising up against Islamic militancy in some parts of the tribal region along Afghan border and other areas.

Three ethnic Pashtun tribes in Bajaur district - the Salarzai, Tarkhani and Utmankhel - raised a "Lashkar," or private army, of around 10,000 tribesmen to drive Taliban out of their area, after weeks of fierce fighting between security forces and militants resulted in heavy civilian casualties and property losses.

"We have been told very clearly by the authorities that the only way to avoid collateral damage is that we clear our areas of Taliban and bring stability here," said tribal elder Fazal Karim, who leads the Lashkar.

The Pakistani army in early August launched a major offensive in ungoverned Bajaur district to take control of a strategic route used by Taliban to provide supplies to their comrades fighting US forces in the Afghan province of Kunar.

Making just small gains with the route still under Taliban control, the forces mainly rely on aerial and artillery strikes that according to the locals have killed more civilians and cattle than militants. The attacks have also razed houses, obstructed the maize harvest and forced more than one-third of the 800,000 inhabitants to flee the area.

But that is not the only reason for emerging rebellion. Many do not agree with Taliban's narrow interpretation of Islam.

Around 3.5 million tribal people practice a form of Islam that is integrated with an archaic moral code of conduct and honour, very similar to the one described in ancient Greek Homeric poems and Icelandic Kings' sagas, where warriors are hailed as heroes.

On the other hand, Taliban ideology is based on a reductionist version of Islam stripped of secular Pashtun cultural content. It undermined the traditional tribal structure when enforced, and led to resentment among the locals who had provided shelter to hundreds, if not thousands, Taliban and al-Qaeda fugitives following US invasion of Afghanistan in 2001.

Taliban executions, extreme torture, opposition to social and economic development projects and girls' education further deepened the split and banded together people in some areas for an indigenous armed resistance.

"What these gangs of thugs and criminals brought in the name of Islam is barbarism," said Karim, whose fighters have cleared around 90 per cent of Salarzai sub-district of Bajaur.

Three of the six other tribal districts are experiencing similar patterns.

Armed with rocket-propelled grenades, AK-47 assault rifles and light machine guns, thousands of warriors from the Perozkhel tribe established dozens of blockades in Orakzai Agency last week and took positions on strategic hilltops to prey on extremists in their area.

Eighteen insurgents, including four would-be suicide bombers, and two explosive-laden vehicles were seized, putting the tribesmen in a comfortable position to negotiate the release of dozens of police recruits abducted in their district by militants weeks ago.

Five main tribes in the town of Darra Adamkhel, a militant stronghold, on Saturday assured the authorities that their armed patrols would protect all government buildings, communication installations and civilians against the Taliban zealots.

"This is going to help the military in its effort to contain the militancy because with the local support the operations become relatively easier," said Hasan Askari Rizvi, a leading Pakistani commentator and visiting scholar at the John Hopkins School of Advanced International Studies in Washington.

But going through the rugged mountainous area and smoking out well-trained and resilient Taliban from their caves and trenches, a job which regular military has avoided anticipating heavy losses, is a very risky task for tribal fighters.

General David McKiernan, commander of the International Security Assistance Force in Afghanistan, described the local stand as "encouraging."

However, tribal mobilization has yet to become a major social movement that could transform the entire tribal zone into a hostile territory for Taliban and al-Qaeda, and stop their advance into the settled areas of North-West Frontier Province.

The strategically important districts of North and South Waziristan remain virtually no-go areas for the security forces.

Building a sustained anti-Taliban resistance is difficult, though not impossible, as the rebels have already disrupted the social hierarchies by assassinating at least 600 tribal elders, who traditionally can mobilize the public.

Even in Bajaur, Taliban militants have adopted similar tactics to suppress the nascent uprising.

"They have killed one dozen Maliks (tribal leaders) and their relatives," said Karim, who himself was attacked three times, twice by remote-controlled bombs and once by an ambush. He survived but his two nephews died.