| Wednesday, January 17, 2007 |
| Pakistan attacks suspected al-Qaeda camps |
Pakistani has strafed a suspected al-Qaeda hideout in a forest near the Afghan border helicopter with helicopter gunships, killing at least 10 people.
This angered tribesmen who said the dead were woodcutters and not terrorists. The raid in South Waziristan came as United States Defence Secretary Robert Gates visited Afghanistan and as pressure grew on Pakistan to crack down on terrorists launching attacks across the frontier.
According to the Pakistan army, intelligence sources had confirmed the presence of 25 to 30 militants, including four or five unidentified al-Qaeda terrorists, occupying five compounds near Zamzola, about 2 miles from the Pak-Afghan border. Pakistani forces, backed by Cobra helicopter gunships, attacked them, destroying three of the compounds.
In Kabul, capital of Afghanistan, the top US commander in Afghanistan said he wanted to extend the combat tours of 1,200 soldiers amid escalating violence. US Defence Secretary Robert Gates said he was "strongly inclined" to recommend a troop surge to President Bush if commanders believed it was needed.
Gates also said Pakistan must act to check an increasing inflow of Taliban fighters into Afghanistan as US military officials cited new evidence that the Pakistani military, which has long-standing ties to the Taliban movement, has turned the other way to the Taliban incursions. Attacks by the Taliban attacks have increased by 300% since September, when the Pakistani government put in place a peace pact with tribal leaders in the north Waziristan area on the Afghan border.Labels: Society |
| posted by a correspondent @ 10:16 AM |
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