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| Pakistani forces bomb madrassa, 20 killed | | |
Islamabad, Oct 30
Pakistani troops backed by helicopter gunships bombed a religious seminary being used as a terrorist training facility in a northwestern tribal area bordering Afghanistan today, killing at least 20 people.
Around 70-80 people were present at the madrassa when security forces carried out the air strike on the school located north of Khar, the headquarters of Bajur tribal agency, at 5:am.
"There were casualties as between 70 to 80 people were present at the madrassa when the security forces conducted the operation," army spokesman Major General Shaukat Sultan said.
Witnesses at the scene reported that around 20 people were killed in the attack but the army did not confirm any casualties.
"The attack was launched after confirmed information was received that the inmates were involved in terrorist training," Sultan said adding that the seminary was being observed for few days.
"Gunship helicopters were used and most of the targets were eliminated," he was quoted as saying in the media.
It is the second major attack on Bajur in less than a year.
Locals said that the targeted madrassa was owned by a local leader of a banned group 'Tanzeem Nifaz-e-Shariat-e-Muhammadi' (TSNM).
In January, the US launched a missile strike on a village in the Bajur area in an effort to kill al-Qaeda's deputy leader Ayman al-Zawahiri.
The strike killed 18 people but Pakistani officials said that al-Zawahiri was not among the dead. |
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