Pakistani helicopter gunships attacked Taliban bases near the Afghan border today as the army urged Nato forces to seal the frontier to stem cross-border movement of militants.
Pakistani forces launched an offensive to wrest control of the lawless South Waziristan region on Saturday after militants rocked the country with a string of bomb and suicide attacks in recent weeks, killing more than 150 people.
Six people were killed in two suicide bomb attacks at the International Islamic University in the capital, Islamabad, yesterday, prompting authorities to order the closure of educational institutions across the country.
Remote and rugged South Waziristan, with its rocky mountains and patchy forests cut through by dry creeks and ravines, is a global hub for militants.
The offensive is being closely followed by the United States and other powers embroiled in Afghanistan.
The government forces initially faced light resistance but fighting intensified as soldiers approached the militants' main sanctuaries in the mountains.
Government forces attacked the militant strongholds of Makeen and Ladha with helicopter gunships and artillery today, security officials said. Eight soldiers wounded in overnight fighting were evacuated to the nearby town of Dera Ismail Khan.
Fighting for control of the lawless area is seen a major test of the government's ability to tackle increasingly brazen insurgents who have carried out daring attacks across Pakistan, including on the army headquarters.
Qari Hussain Mehsud, a senior Taliban commander known as "the mentor of suicide bombers", called the BBC yesterday to take responsibility for the attacks on the Islamic University and said the militants consider "all of Pakistan to now be a war zone".
The security officials said heavy exchanges of fire were taking place in Kotkai, Hussain's hometown and also the birthplace of Pakistani Taliban chief, Hakimullah Mehsud. The town is on the approach to a main base area.
Security forces briefly took control of Kotkai in fighting on Monday night but militants recaptured it in a counter-attack.
Reuters