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| Monday, 1 March 2004 |
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Eleven killed as Pakistan troops fire on van WANA, Pakistan, Sunday (Reuters) Pakistani troops opened fire on a van carrying suspected Islamic militants on Saturday, killing at least 11 people in a region where forces are hunting Osama bin Laden, officials said. An intelligence official told Reuters those killed in the South Waziristan tribal region may not have been militants but a military statement said some may have been "terrorists". The incident took place after a base of Pakistani soldiers who have been hunting fighters from bin Laden's al Qaeda came under attack. The Pakistani military said the deaths occurred in crossfire after the army post came under mortar attack and a checkpoint came under fire from two to three vehicles. "The chances of some civilians having been killed cannot be ruled out," it said. Witnesses said the dead were five local tribesmen and six Afghans. A military statement confirmed 11 reported deaths and said 16 people had been arrested. Fiercely independent tribesmen in the region bordering Afghanistan are sympathetic to al Qaeda and bin Laden. They have been angered by the Pakistani operations and reports of civilian deaths will not make the military's task easier. "The situation in Waziristan is very tense after the incident, the people are very angry," a resident told Reuters. |
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