Airstrikes kill 21 more people as Pakistan army offensive intensifies

Islamabad: Pakistan's army offensive in tribal areas bordering Afghanistan heated up Monday, with militants attacking three security force bases and military jets responding with airstrikes that killed at least 21 people, intelligence officials said.

The overnight and early morning clashes follow artillery attacks Sunday on suspected militant hide-outs in two towns in the northwest that killed 27 fighters, officials said. Elsewhere in the volatile region, a citizens' militia killed seven suspected militants.

The government announced last week that the military would go after Pakistan's Taliban commander, Baitullah Mehsud, in the South Waziristan tribal area. His stronghold is a chunk of the remote and rugged mountainous region where heavily armed tribesmen hold sway and Al Qaida and Taliban leaders are believed to be hiding.

Washington supports anti-militant operations, seeing them as a measure of nuclear-armed Pakistan's resolve in taking on a growing insurgency. The battle in the tribal region could also help the war in Afghanistan because the area has been used by militants to launch cross-border attacks on US and other troops.

Militants used mortars, rockets, gunfire and even an anti-aircraft gun to attack three military bases overnight in South and North Waziristan, five intelligence officials said, speaking on condition of anonymity because they are not authorised to talk with media. Their reports could not be confirmed because of a lack of media access to the conflict zones, and official military spokesmen could not be reached for comment.

No government casualties were reported, but the intelligence officials said security forces responded with artillery and airstrikes on at least six villages against militant targets, including a suspected training camp where eight people were killed.

While most of the dead appeared to be militants, three women and three children died when the house of a local tribal leader was hit in the Razmak area, one official said.

The military is trying to avoid civilian casualties, worried about a public backlash at a time when support for a crackdown on extremism has been gathering strength in anger over suicide bombings and other attacks.