Posted on 01/22/2010 9:21:58 AM PST by NormsRevenge
MIRANSHAH, Pakistan (AFP) – Pakistani gunship helicopters on Friday pounded a suspected militant hideout in a northwestern tribal area known for sheltering Taliban and Al-Qaeda fighters, officials said.
The assault in North Waziristan comes a day after US Defence Secretary Robert Gates asked Islamabad about their plans to expand an existing anti-Taliban offensive into the district bordering Afghanistan.
"Two gunship helicopters attacked a suspected militant centre," a security official in North Waziristan's main town Miranshah said.
The attack took place on the outskirts of Miranshah in an old refugee camp now home to both Afghan migrants and Pakistanis. Authorities also slapped an indefinite curfew and conducted searches in the area, the official said.
"Six suspected militants have been arrested in the house-to-house search. They are local tribesmen," a security official said, but asked not to be named as he was not authorised to speak to the media.
He said one person -- a civilian -- was killed and two wounded when troops opened fire on them for violating the curfew.
A regional government official confirmed the death and the attack, and said that local mosques had announced the curfew beginning around dawn on Friday.
Troops besieged the camp early in the morning and two attack helicopters shelled the suspected hideouts, destroying one house, he added.
(Excerpt) Read more at news.yahoo.com ...
A Pakistani army helicopter patrols the tribal region of South Waziristan along the Afghan border in November 2009. Pakistani gunship helicopters on Friday pounded a suspected militant hideout in a northwestern tribal area known for sheltering Taliban and Al-Qaeda fighters, officials said. (AFP/File/Aamir Qureshi)
This file photo shows US soldiers preparing to launch an unmanned aerial drone. US Defence Secretary Robert Gates took on his critics in Pakistan, apologising for past "grave" mistakes as he works to bolster ties with Washington's key ally in the fight against Al-Qaeda. (AFP/File/Patrick Baz)
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