Two civilians were killed in crossfire between suspected militants and security forces in the Makeen area of South Waziristan, residents said on Tuesday. “Two residents of Ishengai village in the Makeen area were killed after their house was hit on Monday night,” a tribal elder told Daily Times by phone. Security forces pounded suspected militant hideouts in the Makeen area from the Razmak Fort in North Waziristan and the Makeen Fort in South Waziristan using long range artillery and mortar guns, sources said. Reuters adds: Clashes began early on Monday and continued overnight as militants mounted a counterattack on a school where security forces had set up camp. “Militants launched the attack after offering funeral prayers for comrades killed earlier,” an intelligence official said. Negotiations with tribal elders to secure release of the soldiers captured in the nearby Ladha area was continuing, military officials said on condition of anonymity.