Up to 250 people, including at least 45 soldiers, have been killed in fierce fighting in northwestern Pakistan over the past four days, with Pakistani military jets bombing suspected insurgent hideouts amid tough resistance, officials and residents said Tuesday.The military said that at least 150 insurgents had been killed in the battles in North Waziristan, a remote tribal region that al Qaeda and Taliban fighters have used as a base for operations.
The most intense clashes have come in the town of Mir Ali, where the military has deployed heavy artillery, helicopter gunships and fighter jets to try to oust insurgents who have been waging an aggressive campaign against the Pakistani army. The use of fighter jets is unusual, but government officials said it was necessary given the strength of the firepower they were facing from the insurgents.
"The resistance from local Taliban is tougher than what the government usually expects," conceded a tribal affairs official in Peshawar, the capital of Northwest Frontier province. "Such tough resistance also gives credence to speculation that al Qaeda-trained foreign fighters might be backing these local Taliban."
Read More
