Pakistani officials are rejecting claims that local villagers were killed in an overnight attack on a suspected pro-Taleban militant compound.
Pakistani military officials say soldiers backed by helicopter gunships killed about 30 militants at the compound in North Waziristan near the Afghan border.
A Pakistani general ,Shaukat Sultan said the troops also destroyed a huge cache of weapons and explosives.
The operation happened in an area where a curfew was lifted only hours earlier following six days of clashes that left more than 100 militants dead.
Local residents said the compound near Miran Shah was owned by a cleric who is considered to be pro-Taleban, Maulvi Sadiq Noor. Some residents said local villagers were killed in the attack, and not militants.
Security forces have been searching for Noor for several days following a military attack on an al-Qaida hideout in the area that led to the clashes.
Pakistani military officials say soldiers backed by helicopter gunships killed about 30 militants at the compound in North Waziristan near the Afghan border.
A Pakistani general ,Shaukat Sultan said the troops also destroyed a huge cache of weapons and explosives.
The operation happened in an area where a curfew was lifted only hours earlier following six days of clashes that left more than 100 militants dead.
Local residents said the compound near Miran Shah was owned by a cleric who is considered to be pro-Taleban, Maulvi Sadiq Noor. Some residents said local villagers were killed in the attack, and not militants.
Security forces have been searching for Noor for several days following a military attack on an al-Qaida hideout in the area that led to the clashes.