Pakistani jets bomb N. Waziristan, killing up to 6

MIR ALI, Pakistan — Pakistani fighter jets bombed suspected Taliban positions in a tribal region that could end up the focus of a future military offensive, killing as many as six people Sunday, intelligence officials said.

The airstrikes hit several homes in parts of North Waziristan near the Afghan border, the two intelligence officials said on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to speak to media. The officials said six people died and several were wounded. They did not say if the dead were militants.

Two local residents, however, said two people were killed and seven injured, and that all the victims were tribesmen. The witnesses, Shanawat Khan and Akhtarullah, told The Associated Press via phone that three local tribesmen’s homes were hit in the Degan village area, 25 miles (40 kilometers) from Afghanistan.

Pakistan’s armed forces are laying the groundwork for a full-scale offensive against Pakistani Taliban chief Baitullah Mehsud in South Waziristan, but in recent days, clashes with and statements by militant leaders in neighboring North Waziristan have raised the possibility of army action there as well.

Pakistan’s army operations have been strongly supported by U.S. officials keen to see an end to hide-outs for militants implicated in attacks on American forces across the border in Afghanistan.

Over the past week, North Waziristan militant commander Hafiz Gul Bahadur said he was pulling out of a peace deal with the government, and his fighters took responsibility for a deadly ambush of troops in the region.

The army has warned that it will retaliate against tribes in the area who shelter Taliban militants, though it has stopped short of saying it will pursue an offensive. Sunday’s bombing may have been part of the retaliatory efforts.

Pakistan is trying to isolate Mehsud, who is blamed for a string of suicide attacks across the country.

Last week, in what appeared to be a boon for the army, militant leader Maulvi Nazir of South Waziristan declared a cease-fire against security forces in a deal whose terms were kept private.

But overnight Sunday, an army camp in Angoor Ada, a part of the region purportedly under Nazir’s control, came under attack, prompting retaliatory fire from security forces, two other intelligence officials said. No casualties were immediately known.

Also, suspected militants attacked the Chakmalai army camp in South Waziristan with rockets and gunfire, wounding six soldiers.

Security forces repulsed the assault with mortars and heavy artillery, said the two officials, who also spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to speak to media.

Media access to North and South Waziristan is severely restricted, and the regions are dangerous, making it nearly impossible to independently verify the accounts offered by officials.

In a recent interview, army spokesman Maj. Gen. Athar Abbas described Mehsud as the main “center of gravity” for militants along the frontier, saying eliminating him and clearing South Waziristan was a higher priority than going after lesser militant leaders elsewhere.

Abbas could not immediately be reached for comment Sunday.

The army remains engaged in an offensive against Taliban fighters in the Swat Valley, another region in the northwest. In a statement Sunday, it said three soldiers were killed in the previous 24 hours in an exchange of fire in that area.

Associated Press writer Nahal Toosi in Islamabad and Ishtiaq Mahsud in Dera Ismail Khan contributed to this report.