Security forces backed by helicopter gunships and heavy artillery killed 32 people, including three women, in strikes against suspected militant hide-outs in northwestern Pakistan, an official said yesterday.
The deaths on Sunday resulted from the latest round of a military offensive that has reportedly killed hundreds in recent weeks in the Bajur tribal region bordering Afghanistan.
Bajur is a suspected hide-out of al-Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden and one of the regions the US fears is a safe haven for al-Qaeda and Taliban fighters involved in attacks in Afghanistan.
The Pakistani military operation in Bajur comes amid tension with the US over whether the Muslim nation is doing enough to root out insurgents from its territory and whether the US should conduct its own unilateral strikes there.
Senior government official Iqbal Khattak said most of the dead on Sunday were alleged militants but that at least three were women.
The information was difficult to confirm because of the region’s remote and dangerous nature.
Security forces have used helicopter gunships, fighter jets and heavy artillery to attack suspected militant positions in various areas in Bajur, Khattak said.
In a statement late on Sunday, the military said ground forces had secured “areas up to Khazana and Nasirabad” and were advancing toward Loi Sam, a key focus of the operation.
The government said late last month that it would cease military operations in Bajur for the Muslim holy month of Ramadan, but reserved the right to retaliate.
Army spokesman Major General Athar Abbas said factors including persistent militant mortar attacks and threats to pro-government tribes prompted the military to restart its operation.
Abbas said the issue “has to be resolved once and for all.”
“It may take a long time. We cannot just hand over this area to the Taliban,” he said.
A series of suspected US missile strikes and a US-led ground assault in Pakistani territory in the northwest in recent days have prompted official protests from Pakistan’s military and government.
Although Pakistan has vowed to defend its territorial integrity and denounced US incursions, top officials have said they would prefer to resolve the conflict diplomatically.
Pakistani President Asif Ali Zardari is expected to discuss the incursions with British Prime Minister Gordon Brown this week.
The Bajur operation last month forced a reported 300,000 people to flee to neighboring regions, but the announcement of a Ramadan halt in fighting led many to return.
Now, people are again fleeing.
One resident, Abdul Malik, was heading on Sunday to the Dir area north of Bajur with his wife and three children. He said they were trying to return to the relief camp they’d vacated after hearing of the Ramadan suspension.
“This is more fierce fighting than before, and we don’t know who is killing whom, as no big figure has been killed as yet, only innocent civilians,” Malik said.
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