Air raid kills 23 in Pakistan border region: police, security sources
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Pakistani security officials stand guard at a checkpoint in Peshawar, Pakistan, on Sept 22.
PHOTO: EPA
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PESHAWAR - Pakistan police and security sources said aerial bombing in a remote border region killed at least 23 civilians on Sept 22 in an area where militancy has been rising.
An opposition MP accused the military of carrying out the night raid as part of a counter-terrorism operation, but no official statement has been released by the government or armed forces.
Pakistani Taliban (TTP) militants have in recent months stepped up a campaign of violence against security forces in the mountainous areas that border Afghanistan.
“It was the security force’s aircraft that carried out the shelling. It’s their shelling that killed 23 people,” Mr Iqbal Afridi, an opposition member of the National Assembly for Khyber Tribal district where the raid happened, told AFP.
A senior police officer stationed in the town of Tirah told AFP that seven women and four children were among the 23 dead, without saying who carried out at the assault.
“The jets targeted four houses, which were completely destroyed,” he said, asking not to be named.
“Tirah is near the Pakistan-Afghan border and is home to multiple TTP hideouts. In recent months, there have been several attacks on security forces in this area.”
A security officer based in Peshawar, who confirmed the death toll, said there are “dozens of TTP hideouts” in the area where militants reside with their families.
On the afternoon of Sept 22, around 2,000 people gathered in a nearby town to protest against the deadly raid. AFP
