Islamabad, Aug 19 (DPA) Nine people, including five civilians, were reportedly killed Sunday in attacks by Pakistani helicopter gunships on suspected militant hideouts near the border with Afghanistan.
The early-morning strikes against compounds being used by foreign insurgents near the town of Mir Ali in North Waziristan followed attacks Saturday on military checkpoints that left three soldiers dead, the army said.
“We received intelligence that two compounds were being used to make IEDs (improvised explosive devices) and for launching attacks on convoys and checkpoints,” army spokesman Major General Waheed Arshad said.
Four foreign militants died in the strikes but their nationalities were still being established, he added.
The spokesman rejected media reports that five civilians, including two children, were killed in the attacks.
Pakistan’s Geo news channel said they died when a stray round destroyed the family’s home, prompting locals to take to the streets in protest. Power supplies to the area were also knocked out by the airstrike, according to Geo.
The tribal areas have seen a surge of attacks on security forces since pro-Taliban tribesmen scrapped a peace treaty with the government after the storming operation at the radical Red Mosque in Islamabad in July.
Around 400 people are thought to have died in clashes, roadside bomb and suicide attacks in north and south Waziristan in recent weeks.