'Scores dead' in Pakistan air raids

11/04/2010| IslamWeb

The Pakistani military has killed nearly 100 people in air raids in tribal areas in the country's northwest, officials say.

The attacks were carried out on Saturday in the Orazkai and Khyber regions near the border with Afghanistan, they said.

In Orakzai, 54 people said to be fighters by the Pakistani army were killed during clashes over a checkpoint near the town of Baizoti, Samiullah Khan, a local official, told the Associated Press news agency on Saturday.

His comments came after it emerged that another raid had killed more than 40 people in the Tirah area of the Khyber region.

Death toll confirmed

A military official confirmed that the incident had taken place and the death toll was correct.

The violence came as a Pakistani military offensive against Taliban-allied fighters in Orakzai entered its 18th day.

The UN announced on Friday that the deteriorating security situation in Orakzai and Kurram has forced 200,000 civilians to flee since November last year.

PHOTO CAPTION

Map of Pakistan locating Tirah region

Al-Jazeera