ISLAMABAD, 10 September 2004 — Pakistani warplanes and helicopters yesterday pounded an Al-Qaeda training camp on the Afghan border, killing at least 50 fighters, the majority of them Uzbeks, Arabs and Chechens, the military said.
The assault was among the fiercest in months of fighting in the dusty border region, considered a possible hideout for Osama Bin Laden and his deputy, who are still on the run nearly three years after the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks on the United States.
Army spokesman Maj. Gen. Shaukat Sultan said at least 50 people were killed — a number he said could rise — and that 90 percent were foreigners. He said the camp was believed to be linked to Bin Laden’s Al-Qaeda network.
“The foreign elements operating in these tribal areas have links with Al-Qaeda,” Sultan said. He said he had no information on whether any high-value Al-Qaeda targets were present at the site.
Sultan said the camp near the village of Dila Khula, 25 km northeast of Wana — the main town of the South Waziristan tribal region — was totally destroyed in the assault and all the people inside were believed killed. He described the site as being composed of two mud-brick buildings, with an explosives training facility in the middle.
“I don’t think they put up a fight. They were taken by surprise,” he said.
Military officials said ground troops moved in after the air assault, and there were no military casualties.
Sultan said the men had been involved in terrorist acts inside Pakistan, but gave no details. He said they were not in any way connected to suspected Chechen and Arab militants who took hundreds hostage at a school in southern Russia earlier this month. At least 330 people — many of them children — died in that siege.
“We came to know about this camp after investigations into recent terrorist attacks in Pakistan,” Sultan said. Asked to comment on local reports of heavy civilian casualties, he added, “They were all militants and if there were any locals they would have to be part of those militants.”
Villager Ajab Nur said around 40 members of Afghanistan’s ousted Taleban militia and allied militants had gathered at the time of the attack, and many of the fighters were killed in the airstrikes.
But according to Nur, dozens of civilians also died in a subsequent raid after they gathered to survey the damage in the area located around 50 km from the Afghan border.
“There was a gathering of about 40 or so militants early this morning,” said Nur. “Two bombs fell on them. Then villagers went to see what had happened... and there was a second attack and many people were killed.” Residents estimated that up to 90 people had died, making it one of the bloodiest clashes in Pakistan’s lawless tribal belt since the military launched a crackdown on Al-Qaeda-linked militants hiding there.
Alam Khan, a resident of Ladha, a neighboring village, said by telephone that three other nearby villages were also hit in the operation. He said he saw at least two jets and about 10 army helicopters flying over the scene during the fighting, which lasted about two hours.
— Additional input from agencies
