The strike, involving helicopter gunships, started around 5 am today. The target was a madrasa run by local cleric Maulvi Liaqut who, according to local media, was also killed. Liaqut had been accused of harbouring local and foreign militants. He had been a member of the defunct Tehreek Nifaz-e-Shariat Mohammadi, which had sent thousands of tribal fighters into Afghanistan to support the Taliban before being banned in 2002 by President Musharraf.

Today’s military strike came two days after thousands of tribal militants staged a protest rally in Bajur and vowed to continue their opposition to the US and its Pakistani supporters.

“We received confirmed intelligence reports that 70-80 militants were hiding in a madrasa used as a terrorist-training facility, which was destroyed by an Army strike, led by helicopters,” said Maj Gen Shaukat Sultan, spokesperson for Pakistani military according to The Associated Press.

Sultan said that no “high value target’’ was present during the raid, referring to Al-Qaeda or Taliban leaders. Sultan also stressed that no children or women were present inside the madrasa and denied any involvement by US or NATO troops.

After the attack, helicopters were hovering over the area. Telecommunication links were also suspended, according to local media. Soon after the attack, signs of a political backlash emerged. Siraj ul Haq, a senior minister in the provincial cabinet, and Haroon-ur- Rashid, a member of parliament, condemned the strike and announced plans to resign.

The madrasa was located in Khar, the main town in the tribal region of Bajur, one of the semi-autonomous tribal areas in northwestern Pakistan that have long been considered safe havens for Taliban and Al-Qaeda remnants. Bajur, which borders the Afghan province of Kunar, has a history of troubled militancy. It was the scene of a widely unpopular American military strike in January, when Al-Qaeda’s number two leader, Aiman al-Zawahiri, was the target. Zawahiri was not present at the time of the attack but at least 18 people, mostly civilians, were killed in the attack.

SALMAN MASOOD