MIRANSHAH: Pakistani troops pounded suspected militant hideouts in a lawless tribal district for a third day yesterday, as the death toll rose to 40 and local residents claimed the operation had left a number of civilians dead.
Clashes between security forces and militants have been rocking North Waziristan district, on the Afghan border, since Wednesday evening when a suicide bombing killed five soldiers at a checkpoint in the town of Mir Ali.
Militants attacked security forces on Wednesday as they returned after rescuing soldiers wounded in the bombing, prompting the military respond with mortars, artillery and helicopter gunships in a search operation to catch the insurgents.
The death toll from the clashes rose to at least 40 yesterday as four more bodies were recovered from the debris of two hotels that came under heavy fire after fleeing militants used them to take refuge.
The military says all of those killed in the operation were Taliban militants, but locals said many of those who died in the hotels were drivers forced to stay there by a curfew imposed on Tuesday.
Nazir Khan Wazir, the member of parliament for the area, said most of those killed and wounded were not militants. Wazir appealed to the government to stop the bombardment to allow locals to bury their dead and take the wounded to hospital.
AFP
