PAKISTAN: Pakistan forces scoured wild tribal areas for fleeing al-Qaeda fighters yesterday, after 10 troops were killed raiding an extremist hideout near the Afghan border.
Five soldiers and five paramilitaries as well as two Chechen al-Qaeda militants were killed in the midnight raid, prompted by tip-offs from US agents, on a tribal home where up to 50 extremists were hiding.
The rest of the militants had fled and Pakistani troops backed by helicopters were combing the region yesterday to hunt them down.
A military spokesman added that several of the extremists had been injured and captured.
Residents said the militants were Chechens taking refuge in a mud fortress owned by sympathetic tribes people.
Pakistan's military said the raid was on homes "where a group of al-Qaeda operatives were located close to the civilian population".
"A number of al-Qaeda terrorists were also killed," it said in a statement.
One of the "terrorists" had blown himself up with a grenade when he was cornered while another died in custody, said a security officer who declined to be identified.
The raid was based on tip-offs from US intelligence agents that 40 to 50 al-Qaeda fugitives from the March Operation Anaconda offensive in eastern Afghanistan were hiding in two buildings, he added.
Mohammad Wazir, a correspondent who visited the scene, said the Chechens had ambushed the Pakistanis with Kalashnikov rifles and grenades after inviting them into the house for a meeting after six hours of negotiations. More Pakistanis were killed when they rushed in to help their comrades, he said.
Residents said five US Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) agents were involved in the raid, although Pakistan's military denied any US presence.
"Five FBI people were present. Together with Pakistani forces they had been negotiating with al-Qaeda people in Azam Warsak in recent days," another eyewitness said.
A group of Chechen al-Qaeda and Taliban fugitives, including women "armed with bombs and pistols", had been hiding in the fortress. - (AFP)
Homaira Shah (84), the wife of Mohammad Zahir Shah, former king of Afghanistan, died yesterday in Rome, a hospital official said. "She came out of intensive care last night after a heavy fever passed, but earlier today she died," Ms Homaira Wali, her granddaughter said. The former queen had lived in Rome since 1973. She had nine children.
- (Reuters)