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| India-Pakistan |
| Waziristan Corpse Count now up to 30 |
| 2006-03-11 |
| Pakistani security forces backed by helicopter gunships attacked a hideout of Islamist militants in a tribal region near the Afghan border, killing up to 30 guerillas, the military said on Saturday. Military spokesman Major-General Shaukat Sultan said the overnight attack in the North Waziristan tribal region was ordered after intelligence reports suggested that militants were gathered in a compound along with a huge cache of arms, ammunition and explosives. "According to initial information, around 25 to 30 miscreants, including foreigners, have been killed," he told Reuters. He did not give the nationality of the slain foreigners. Rugged North Waziristan has been the scene of fierce battles between security forces and Islamist militants this month. More than 120 people have been killed since militants, most of them ethnic Pashtun tribesmen, attacked government forces and buildings last week, in revenge for a March 1 attack that killed 45 of their comrades. Intelligence officials and residents said the latest attack targeted an Islamic school or madrasa owned by a local Islamist cleric, Maulana Sadiq Noor, and his adjoining house in Khatta Killi village near North Waziristan's main town of Miranshah. North Waziristan is around 400 km (250 miles) southwest of the capital, Islamabad. "The security forces used two cobra helicopters and artillery in the attack," an intelligence official said on the condition of anonymity. It was not known whether Noor was at the madrasa when the attack took place. Noor and another cleric, Maulana Abdul Khaliq Haqqani, are wanted by authorities for harboring militants. A large number of resident have fled Miranshah after the recent battles and authorities clamped a curfew in the town earlier this week to restore order. Authorities announced a six-hour break in the curfew on Saturday but warned people not to carry weapons in public. Afghan officials have long complained that militants use Pakistan's tribal region as a launching pad for attacks inside Afghanistan. Pakistani officials say they are doing their best to stem the militants' cross-border movement and have urged Afghan authorities to do more on their side of the long, porous border. Many Pashtun tribesmen, who live on both sides of the border, sympathize with the Taliban, and al Qaeda leaders Osama bin Laden and Ayman al-Zawahri are believed to be hiding in the region. |
| Posted by:Dan Darling |