Pakistan aircraft bomb militants as U.S. drones prowl

What the hell is going on in Pakistan? They don't want us there,they are going to let the Taliban have sharia law in some areas, and then they bomb the hell out of them while us drones fly cover in Afghanistan? what a mess ! at least some Taliban and Al Qaida were taken out !.

KHAR, Pakistan (Reuters) - Pakistani aircraft bombed militant strongholds in a northwestern region on Tuesday while U.S. drones prowled the sky over another militant sanctuary on the Afghan border, a military official and residents said.

Pakistani forces launched offensives against al Qaeda and Taliban militants in the northwest in August and the government says hundreds of militants have been killed.

....

But at the same time, U.S. forces have stepped up strikes on militants on the Pakistani side of the border, angering Islamabad and straining relations between the allies.

Pakistani aircraft bombed three areas of Bajaur on Tuesday as ground troops searched for militants from house to house, a military spokesman said.

"They have constructed underground bunkers and along with foreign fighters are putting up stiff resistance. Troops are clearing each and every house in these areas," said military spokesman Major Murad Khan.

Khan had no information about casualties in the Tuesday fighting, but the military has said 117 have been killed in Bajaur over the past week.

Residents of Khar, the main town in Bajaur, said they could hear bombing on Tuesday morning.

An intensifying insurgency in Afghanistan has put pressure on Pakistan to go after militants operating out of sanctuaries in remote enclaves on its side of the border, such as Bajaur.
Worry about Afghanistan's prospects has also led to stepped-up U.S. strikes on militants in Pakistan.

DRONES ON PATROL

Pakistan's new government has committed itself to the U.S.-led campaign against militancy even though it is deeply unpopular.

But it objects to cross-border strikes and angrily protested against a bloody helicopter-borne ground assault by U.S. commandos early this month.

Pakistan says U.S. strikes and the civilian casualties they inflict drive people into the arms of the militants.

The Pakistani army has said the country's territory would be defended at all cost, raising the prospect of a clash between Pakistani and U.S. forces on the border.

But Prime Minister Yousaf Raza Gilani has said Pakistan aimed to settle the issue with the United States diplomatically.

President Asif Ali Zardari, who is seen as close to the United States, was in Britain on Tuesday where he was due to met Prime Minister Gordon Brown for talks expected to focus on security.

Zardari was elected president this month to replace staunch U.S. ally Pervez Musharraf, a former army chief who stepped down as president under threat of impeachment last month. Pakistani security officials said on Monday firing by Pakistani troops forced two U.S. military helicopters to turn back to Afghanistan after they crossed into Pakistani territory although the U.S. and Pakistani militaries both denied it.
U.S. operated drones, which can fire missiles, flew over the North Waziristan region on Monday night and on Tuesday morning but did not fire, residents said.

"We're very scared and couldn't sleep the whole night but thank God nothing happened," said Gul Maroof Shah, a resident of Hamzoni village, 10 km (6 miles) west of the town of Miranshah.

In Bajaur, residents living on the border said several drones flew over their area late on Monday evening.