KavkazCenter - Pakistan bombs houses along Afghan border

Pakistan bombs houses along Afghan border

Government forces bombed dozens of houses in a tribal region near the Afghan border Sunday, officials and witnesses said, in a military offensive that comes amid U.S. pressure for Pakistan to crack down on militants.

Days of clashes have reportedly killed at least 100 Taliban fighters and nine paramilitary troops in the area, an insurgent stronghold considered a possible hiding place for al Qaeda leaders Osama bin Laden and Ayman al-Zawahiri.

Details have been scarce about the military offensive in Bajaur.

Sardar Khan, a police official, said two spells of aerial bombing destroyed about 40 houses in several villages. He said bombs struck a school occupied by Taliban fighters in the village of Loi Sam, a key focus of the fighting.

Two residents, Sher Zamin and Attaullah Khan, said army planes and helicopters dropped bombs and shells, apparently on suspected Taliban positions.

An Associated Press reporter in Khar, the main town in Bajaur, saw Taliban militants patrolling and staking out positions on roads with rocket launchers, heavy machine guns and, in some places, anti-aircraft guns.

The West is increasingly pressuring Pakistan's government to act against Taliban and al Qaeda strongholds in its frontier region with Afghanistan.

Pakistani officials have sought peace agreements in the border region in hopes of curbing Islamic extremists who have been blamed for a wave of suicide attacks across the country in the past year.

NATO contends the cease-fire deals have allowed militants in the frontier region to step up attacks in Afghanistan, while U.S. officials warn that al Qaeda leaders along the border could be plotting another attack on the West.

Agencies