At least 50 people. most of them foreigners, were killed today in air strikes by Pakistani jet fighters and helicopters in the South Waziristan tribal area that borders Afghanistan, a witness said.
About 40 members of Afghanistan's ousted Taliban militia and other Islamic militants were attacked during a meeting in the village of Laggimanzai, close to the Afghan border.
It is reported that many more civilians were killed in a subsequent air strike when they gathered to survey the damage.
The region, 250 miles southwest of the capital Islamabad, has been the scene of major military operations in recent months.
Officials have said hundreds of al-Qaeda-linked foreign militants, including Arabs, Chechens and Uzbeks, and their tribal allies, are hiding there and have used the remote region to train fighters and coordinate attacks on targets inside Pakistan.