By JERUSALEM POST STAFF
Army helicopter gunships strafed and bombed suspected militant hide-outs in a restive tribal region in northwestern Pakistan early Sunday, killing three fighters and four civilians, including women and children.
The air raids were carried out after militants launched attacks and engaged in intense gunbattles with security forces late Saturday in North Waziristan, a tribal region on the border with Afghanistan, the army's top spokesman Maj. Gen. Waheed Arshad said.
Two militant compounds were targeted near the town of Mir Ali in North Waziristan, Arshad said.
Four civilians - two women and two children - died when their home was bombed in Hurmaz, a village near Mir Ali, an intelligence official in Miran Shah, North Waziristan's main town, said on condition of anonymity because he did not have authority to comment.