PRE-ISLAMIC?:

30 die in fighting on Pakistan border (Allegra Stratton and agencies, January 14, 2008, Guardian Unlimited)

Twenty-three suspected militant fighters and seven soldiers have died in fighting on the Pakistan border with Afghanistan.

The militants ambushed a military convoy in the Mohmand tribal region in north-western Pakistan at 7.30am (2.30am GMT), according to a statement by Major General Waheed Arshad, the army's most senior spokesman. [...]

The people of the Mohmand follow pre-Islamic tribal laws and there have so far been few reports of clashes in the province.