Suspected al-Qaida fugitives fired rockets on Pakistani troops in a remote northwestern tribal region near Afghanistan, triggering a shootout that killed three villagers and wounded four others, officials said Saturday. It wasn't immediately clear whether the attackers suffered any casualties in the fighting late Friday in Khaisor, a village about 25 kilometres northeast of Wana, the main town in South Waziristan, said Brig. Mahmood Shah, head of the security for tribal regions. He said the fighting began shortly after a group of "foreign terrorists" fired rockets to target Pakistani troops. "Our forces also returned fire, and the exchange of fire continued for 20 minutes," he said.
| "They wuz shootin' east, an' we wuz shootin' west..." |
Shah said no Pakistani soldier was injured in the shootout.
| "Nope. They wuz all south." |
He gave no other details, and wouldn't confirm any civilian casualties. But two intelligence officials in Wana said on condition of anonymity that a mortar fired by militants struck a home in Khaisor, killing three people and wounding four others.
| "Told 'em to head north, but they wouldn't listen..." |
Meanwhile, Nisar Ahmed, a doctor at a Wana hospital, said they were treating four civilians, who were brought from Khaisor. He cited victims' relatives as saying the men were wounded when mortar fire hit their homes. Ahmed said the injured men and their relatives didn't know who fired the mortar.
"Mahmoud! Git outside an' see who fired that mortar!"
"Yes, Paw!" |
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