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| India-Pakistan |
| Militants attack Pakistani town |
| 2007-03-28 |
| Militants have launched a wave of attacks on security forces in a town in north-west Pakistan near the border with Afghanistan, officials say. At least one soldier died in what officials said was a seven-hour onslaught in Tank near the troubled tribal region of South Waziristan. Security posts and private property were attacked with rockets and mortars. Armed men also seized the headmaster of a school, where two people died when police and militants clashed on Monday. Police say they are gathering information about the number of people dead or wounded in the seven-hour battle with light and heavy weapons in Tank. Witnesses say several banks were ransacked and set on fire while the streets were littered with bodies. Shops and markets were closed on Wednesday following the night of violence. The authorities shut schools on Tuesday fearing a backlash after Monday's violence. Local militant leader Ehsan Barqi was killed in the clash. Police said he wanted to talk to students at the Oxford Public School about jihad (holy war). The latest attacks came on the day a delegation of tribal elders was to meet tribal militant leader, Baitullah Mehsud, to seek his support in bringing normalcy in the city. Officials say the militants who tried to enter the school on Monday were all members of the "local Taleban". The BBC's Haroon Rashid in Peshawar says the violence in Tank comes after a string of attacks on policemen by suspected pro-Taleban militants in the region. Tank is in North-West Frontier Province, about 100km (75 miles) from the Afghan border. It is next to the restive South Waziristan tribal region, where there have recently been heavy clashes. |
| Posted by:Steve |