By IANS
Islamabad : The death toll in two days of heavy fighting in Pakistan’s tribal belt bordering Afghanistan has risen to 80 amid reports of civilian killings. Officials said some 50 soldiers went missing during the fighting.
Some 50 soldiers went missing in northwest Pakistan’s tribal area, the military spokesman Major Gen. Waheed Arshad said.
The army has lost contact with the missing soldiers and was still trying to find their whereabouts in north Waziristan, Arshad said, according to Xinhua.
The missing soldiers are feared kidnapped after heavy exchange of firing between security forces and militants in north Waziristan that erupted Sunday.
Troops backed by helicopters launched retaliatory strikes south of the town of Mir Ali in North Waziristan, following insurgent attacks on military convoys in the area.
The operations also targeted militant hideouts with artillery fire, killing 60 of their number, Arshad said, adding that 20 soldiers also died, according to DPA. At least 15 soldiers and 35 militants were injured in the clashes.
Meanwhile, eight civilians, including five women, were killed and seven injured when houses in Mir Ali were mistakenly hit in the shelling, Pakistan’s Geo news channel reported.
Private Aaj channel put the number of civilian casualties at more than 50, although the army spokesman was unable to confirm death among non-combatants.
The militants in South Waziristan tribal area abducted about 300 security force soldiers on Aug 30. Of the kidnapped, 32 soldiers were released later. A large number of security force soldiers are still under custody of militants in south Waziristan.
Three captured soldiers were shot dead last week and the militants threatened more executions if the government did not meet their demand for a prisoner exchange.
The security in the northwestern tribal areas was put on high alert after militants in north Waziristan scrapped a peace deal with the government in July.
Frequent clashes between militants and the security forces have killed over 400 people in the area since mid-July.
The country’s mountainous tribal areas are thought to be refuge of Al Qaeda terrorists and Taliban militants who stage cross-border attacks on international forces in Afghanistan.