Thirteen people including five soldiers were killed in fierce clashes between the security forces and militants Sunday in Pakistan's South Waziristan tribal area bordering Afghanistan, English-language newspaper Dawn reported Monday. Military spokesman Major General Shaukat Sultan Sunday told a private TV channel that the security forces had suffered casualties, but he declined to provide details, saying the fighting was still continuing. The paper quoted an official as saying in Wana, headquarters of South Waziristan, that seven militants had been killed in the clashes but the number of the wounded could not be ascertained. Unofficial reports said the death toll on both sides during thefour-day clashes had reached 100.
Pakistani Air Force jets and helicopter gunships were seen pounding the bases of militants in the Karwan Mayanz area in SouthWaziristan, while the security forces were operating in the nearbyMakin Bazaar area. Fighting between the two sides broke out on Saturday night after tribal elders rejected a request by the local authorities toprovide the security forces a safe passage to North Waziristan through an area dominated by the Mahsud tribe. |