By IANS
Islamabad : The following is a chronology, as carried Wednesday by The News, about the violence involving Pakistani security forces and Islamic militants since Pakistan sent its forces into the tribal regions near Afghanistan in late 2001 in support of the US-led war on terrorism:
* Oct 8, 2007: A Pakistani army air strike on a village bazaar near the Afghan border kills dozens and pushes the toll from four days of clashes in North Waziristan to 250. The dead include civilians and at least 45 soldiers.
* July 19, 2007: Three suicide attacks on Chinese workers near Karachi and on police and army forces in northwestern Pakistan kill at least 51 people.
* July 11, 2007: Army commandos complete an eight-day siege and storming of Islamabad’s radical Red Mosque. Some 102 people die, including 10 elite troops and at least 73 suspected militants.
* Oct 30, 2006: Pakistani troops raid a suspected Al Qaeda-linked training facility, killing 80 people in Chingai village in the Bajur tribal area.
* March 2006: Several days of clashes between army and pro-Taliban militants kill more than 100 militants and eight soldiers in North Waziristan.
* Sep 9, 2004: Pakistani warplanes strike a suspected Al Qaida compound in South Waziristan, killing at least 50 cadres.
* June 2004: About 55 militants and 17 security personnel killed in four days of raids on Al Qaida compounds in South Waziristan.
* March 2004: Up to 60 militants, 50 soldiers and a dozen civilians die in a two-week army operation targeting Al Qaida camps in South Waziristan.
* Jan 14, 2004: A purported CIA air strike that unsuccessfully targeted Al Qaida No.2 Ayman al-Zawahri kills at least 17 people at Damadola village in Bajur tribal region.
* October 2003: Pakistani Army raids suspected Al Qaida hideouts, killing 12 terrorists and arresting 18.
* December 2001: Pakistani army moves into Kurram and Khyber tribal regions as Taliban and Al Qaida fighters flee US-led invasion of Afghanistan.