PAKISTAN:Pakistani forces killed up to 100 al-Qaeda-linked militants in fierce clashes near the Afghan border yesterday, a security official said, as tensions grew with the United States over how to tackle militancy.
An intensifying insurgency in Afghanistan has piled pressure on Pakistan to go after militants operating from sanctuaries in enclaves on its side of the border. It has also led to a sharp increase in US strikes on militants in Pakistan.
The new government in Islamabad says it is committed to the campaign against militancy launched after the 9/11 attacks, but bans incursions by US troops. In the latest fighting in the northwestern Bajaur region, where some analysts believe top al-Qaeda leaders have been hiding, the security forces fought pitched battles with militants loyal to local commander Qari Zia-ur-Rehman.
"Eighty to 100 militants were killed in Bajaur today. Most of them are foreigners," the official said. The nationality of the foreigners was being ascertained, he added.
Bajaur has been scene of one of the heaviest battles in recent weeks in which more than 600 militants have been killed. Militants there regularly cross into Afghanistan to attack western troops and government forces.
Violence in Afghanistan has soared over the past two years as al-Qaeda and Taliban fighters regroup. The New York Timesreported that President George Bush had secretly approved orders in July that allow US special forces to carry out ground assaults inside Pakistan without the approval of the Pakistani government.
- (Reuters)