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KHAR, Pakistan - Pakistani forces bombed
dozens of houses in a tribal region near the Afghan border Sunday,
officials and witnesses said, amid reports that days of clashes have
killed at least 100 insurgents and nine paramilitary troops.
Details have been scarce about the
military offensive in Bajur, an insurgent stronghold considered a
possible hiding place for al-Qaida leaders Osama bin Laden and Ayman al-Zawahri.
Sardar Khan, a local police official,
said two spells of aerial bombing destroyed about 40 houses in several
villages. He said bombs also struck a school occupied by Taliban
fighters in Loi Sam, a village that has been a key focus of the
fighting.
Two area residents, Sher Zamin and
Attaullah Khan, said army planes and helicopters dropped bombs and
shells, apparently on suspected Taliban positions.
Meanwhile, an Associated Press reporter
in Khar, the main town in Bajur, saw Taliban militants patrolling and
staking out positions on roads with rocket launchers, heavy machine guns
and, in some places, anti-aircraft guns.
Pakistan is under U.S. pressure to crack
down on militants in its tribal areas, from where they launch attacks on
government and NATO forces in Afghanistan. The Bajur offensive came in
the wake of a militant assault Wednesday on an outpost manned by
security forces. Officials said those initial clashes killed 25
militants and two troops.
Conflicting casualty figures were
reported Sunday.
A paramilitary Frontier Corps statement
said nine troops and at least 100 militants were killed in the last four
days. But a military intelligence official placed the number of troops
dead at 13. He spoke on condition of anonymity because he was not
authorized to speak to the media.
Maulvi Umar, a Pakistani Taliban
spokesman, claimed the militants had handed over 22 bodies belonging to
security forces in the last three days after pleas from tribal elders.
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