Following incident tribesmen staged protests in the Mir Ali Bazaar.
MIRANSHAH:
Helicopters shelling in the Mir Ali tehsil of the North Waziristan Agency resulted in the killing of five people while nine others were reported injured.
The helicopter shelling that took place in the wee hours of the morning sparked protests in the area forcing tribesmen to gather at the Mir Ali Bazaar and condemn the attack. The tribesmen alleged that women and children were also killed in the attack.
A tribal leader from the Haider Khel area Malik Akbar Khan informed The Express Tribune that three helicopters continued to fire for over an hour in the Hasso Khel, Haider Khel, Inzar, Epi and Khushali Tori Khel areas.
Khan added that when the political officials of the administration were contacted they informed that the security forces were pounding militant hideouts and militants who had targeted the security forces truck in Narai Wala which resulted in 14 security personnel being killed while another 21 were injured.
However, Kashmir Khan another leader from the region alleged that the IED explosion that had killed the security personnel had occurred in the Miranshah tehsil, around 35 kilometers east of Mir Ali and the helicopter shelling was only aimed at killing civilians.
The hundreds of tribesmen that had gathered at the Mir Ali Bazaar after the incident shouted slogans against the government and security forces. The tribal leaders including Malik Akbar Khan, Malik Qasim Khan, Malik Kashmir Khan, Malik Farooq Khan and Malik Sadiqullah Edak announced three-day mourning.
The leaders also sent letters to all the Wazir and Dawar tribesmen in the 11 tehsils of the agency asking them to attend a jirga convened today (Friday).
Akbar added that the jirga would come up with a policy and demand that the government in the future refrains from pounding houses and that it honors the peace agreement.
The tribal elders also decided that the educational institutes will be closed and all the business activities will be at halt for the next three days, adding that even vehicles with permits would not be allowed to come out on the streets.
A convoy heading towards Bannu was attacked on Sunday when a high intensity bomb went off killing 14 security officials and injuring 21 others.
Published in The Express Tribune, January 18th, 2013.
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This is nothing but civil war. Pakistani civilians are suffering for the sins committed by Pakistan Army and ISI in the past. These incidents, am afraid will spread gradually to all areas of Pak.