Pakistan pounds militant targets

Pakistan's army is engaged in fierce fighting for the third consecutive day as it continues its drive against al-Qaeda and Taliban in South Waziristan.

The army has set up five temporary bases in the mountainous region near the Afghan border to try to seal off the Taliban's main stronghold.

There is no clear word about casualties, with each side claiming the other has suffered heavy losses.

Residents in the remote area say dozens of people have died.

Reports from the region are sketchy as it is difficult and dangerous for foreign or Pakistani journalists to operate inside South Waziristan.

At least 20,000 people have fled the area over the last week to the nearby Dera Ismail Khan.

'Consolidating'

Clashes between security forces and the Taliban have continued throughout the night across the South Waziristan region, the BBC's Syed Shoaib Hasan reports from neighbouring Dera Ismail Khan.

But the army has ceased its push into the militant heartland and started to consolidate itself on the periphery before pushing deeper in, our correspondent says.

FORCES IN WAZIRISTAN Pakistan army: Two divisions totalling 28,000 soldiers Frontier Corp: Paramilitary forces from tribal areas likely to support army Taliban militants: Estimated between 10,000 and 20,000 Uzbek fighters supporting Taliban: Estimates widely vary between 500-5,000 Challenges in Waziristan Pakistanis reflect on offensive Targeting the Taliban

Checkpoints and supply depots have been established in Sherawangai and Mandana in the south-west towards the Tiarza sub-division.

Security forces have used artillery to pound militant positions in Wana, Servakai, Manzai, Jandola and Razmak, in the north, south and east of the area of operations.

Fighter jets have also been deployed to attack the Taliban in Makeen, Nawazkot, Spinkamar, Khaisora and Makeen.

The army has also taken control of the key Ingalmall mountain range, which marks the passage into Afghanistan.

This will play an important role in disrupting the militants' supply lines and in ensuring more help does not arrive from Afghanistan, our correspondent adds.

According to reports, the Taliban have been using heavy weapons to fire back at the troops.

A Taliban spokesman said they had taken dozens of soldiers and not one of their men had been killed.

'Getting nothing'

Meanwhile, hundreds of people from South Waziristan continue to arrive in Dera Ismail Khan to escape fighting.

The BBC's Aleem Maqbool in Dera Ismail Khan says there is very little preparation for the displaced people.

The army has mobilised artillery and troops in the area

"At least 20,000 people are registered here. They are not getting anything, some are being taken in by the extended families and relatives," he says.

Meanwhile, the federal government and the military have ordered the closure of educational institutions for a week in Islamabad and some other cities for security reasons.

The closure comes amid fears that militants may try to take hostages to force the authorities to ease pressure on their positions in South Waziristan.

Security is tight across Pakistan and police in Islamabad have searched a number of religious seminaries and some nearby rural areas for militants.

According to reports, nearly a dozen suspects have been detained in a rural locality near the city's main vegetable and fruit market.

Interior Minister Rehman Malik said in a statement that action would be taken against any foreign preachers, if found.

On Sunday, reports said Taliban militants, supported by Uzbek fighters linked to al-Qaeda, were engaged in street clashes with soldiers as the army tried to break the militants' grip on South Waziristan.

An army spokesman said the troops were encountering less resistance than expected but admitted the troops were progressing slowly because of the remote area's rugged, mountainous terrain.

Gen Athar Abbas told the BBC there were mines and IEDs [improvised explosive devices] in the area which required clearance.

The army has been massing troops near the militants' stronghold for months - ever since the governor of Pakistan's North West Frontier Province announced a ground offensive in South Waziristan on 15 June.

Pakistan's government has been under considerable pressure from the US to tackle militancy there.

North and South Waziristan form a lethal militant belt from where insurgents have launched attacks across north-west Pakistan as well as into parts of eastern Afghanistan.

South Waziristan is considered to be the first significant sanctuary for Islamic militants outside Afghanistan since 9/11.

Source

Shia settlement a militant target

On the cusp of the volatile tribal areas, the Shia-dominated Astarzai village was in many ways an obvious target for an attack by Sunni militant groups.

On Friday, the village was thronging with shoppers when a suicide bomber rammed an explosives-laden vehicle into the Hikmat Ali hotel, owned by a local Shia businessman.

This is a busy commercial hub, located in the middle of a hotbed of sectarian conflict.

It is the first of a series of Shia settlements stretching up to the town of Hangu. West of Hangu, Sunnis dominate.

The broader Kohat-Hangu region is a patchwork of rival sects and loyalties.

Astarzai has more the look of a town than a village now - home to more than 10,000 people.

On the main road between Kohat and Hangu it serves as the main shopping point for all the Shia and Sunni villages dotted in the wilderness of the Orakzai tribal region.

Witnesses told the BBC the blast that hit the market around the Katcha Pakha roundabout demolished many buildings.

The head of the village council told the BBC how local residents were desperately digging in hope of finding survivors.

"People are doing it with their bare hands," Mehtabul Hasan said.

"They pulled out one dead body from the debris of a shop just half an hour ago."

History of violence

The people of the Orakzai tribal region have traditionally been drawn into sectarian conflict.

Pakistan's evolving sectarian schism

A hold-up by Sunnis in one area causes a hold-up by Shias in another and so on.

Astarzai's population used to be quite mixed. Shias lived among Sunnis and vice versa.

But as the years have gone by the population has shifted and Astarzai has become mostly Shia.

Sectarian conflict in this area dates from the early 1980s, when Sunni groups received arms and training in the Afghan war.

During the past two years, the area has been the scene of repeated militant attacks in which hundreds of soldiers, policemen and civilians have been killed.

Frequent Taliban attacks along the road leading from Kohat to Kurram led to a virtual blockade of upper Kurram region that still continues.

A major reason for the Taliban attacks has been to force the Shias on the defensive and get a toehold in Kurram, which has strategic value for Taliban forays into Afghan areas close to capital, Kabul.

Shias have so far denied them this advantage, and last year a Shia tribal force pushed Taliban fighters from their major command and control centre in lower Kurram.

Origin.