Pak jets target militant base

Four days of clashes with Islamic militants in North Waziristan have claimed about 250 lives and are likely to harden domestic opposition to President Gen Pervez Musharraf’s alliance with Washington.

Residents said Epi village was rocked by a dozen explosions on Tuesday afternoon that destroyed homes and shops. Abdul Sattar, a grocery shop owner, said he had counted more than 60 dead and more than 150 wounded. He said many of the victims were mutilated.

“Some did not have heads, hands or legs. Some people were searching for their children and women,”

Sattar said over the telephone from Epi. The bazaar had been crowded with people from surrounding villages buying food to break their daylong Ramadan fast, he said.

He said the air strikes might have killed some civilians who were living in the areas where militant hideouts were targeted, but he had no exact numbers.