Pakistani forces have carried out an attack on suspected Islamic militants but have failed to find the man behind the kidnapping this month of two Chinese engineers.
The offensive began at 3 a.m. today against a suspected militant hideout in Kotkai, close to the scene of recent fighting, said the military chief in the tribal regions bordering Afghanistan.
"We were told there was a large group of militants. We attacked them with artillery, mortars and helicopter gunships. They split into smaller groups who are now playing hide and seek with the troops in the gullies and ravinesm," he said.
But it appeared that al Qaeda-linked kidnapper Abdullah Mehsud, a former inmate of Guantanamo Bay, was not among the militants.
Abdullah is wanted by Pakistan for masterminding the October 9th kidnapping of two Chinese engineers working on a dam project in the South Waziristan tribal area.
One of the engineers and all of the kidnappers were killed in an operation by Pakistani forces to end the standoff that tested ties with Beijing, one of Islamabad's closest allies.
South Waziristan, 400 kilometres southwest of the capital Islamabad, has been the scene of fierce clashes between security forces and al-Qaeda-linked militants in recent months.