Pakistan ‘military air strike kills civilians’

Pakistan ‘military air strike kills civilians’
pakairstrikeAt least 73 civilians were killed when an army jet bombed a remote village in Pakistan’s tribal region of Khyber, a local official has told the BBC .He said the incident took place on Saturday but news was slow in being reported because of the inaccessibility of the region

The jet was involved in operations against Taliban militants in the nearby Orakzai tribal region.
Hundreds of people have been killed in air strikes across the tribal regions.
The military says most of them are militants, but independent sources say many civilians have also been killed.

Gagging order

“All those killed were innocent civilians,” the local administration official told the BBC.
“The dead include women and children. Dozens of people were also injured.”
The official said he could not speak on the record as the military had put a “gagging order” on him to limit the fallout.
He said that initial information suggested that the jet had strayed away from the conflict zone and mistook the village for a militant compound.
The injured have been moved to hospitals in the nearby city of Peshawar. They are being treated under strict guard.
Police prevented a BBC correspondent from interviewing the injured at the Hayatabad medical complex in Peshawar.
Other reporters have also been denied access.

Source: BBC

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