Pakistani town has curfew imposed

MIR ALI, Pakistan -- Authorities imposed a curfew in this tribal region's main town yesterday as thousands of people fled a third day of clashes between Pakistani security forces and Al Qaeda and Taliban supporters.

Clerics tried to mediate a cease-fire to the fighting, most of which has been in Miran Shah. Security forces conducted mop-up operations yesterday after artillery and helicopter gunships targeted militant strongholds in the town.

More than 100 militants might have died, based on intelligence reports and questioning of injured and arrested fighters, army spokesman Major General Shaukat Sultan said.

The fighting in Pakistan's lawless tribal regions along the Afghan border is the bloodiest in more than two years and marks an escalation in President General Pervez Musharraf's campaign to crack down on Al Qaeda and Taliban militants and their local sympathizers.

It also underscored Islamabad's failure to establish governmental control in the rugged region -- a possible hiding place of Osama bin Laden and his deputy, Ayman al-Zawahri -- where fiercely independent Pashtun tribesmen have resisted outside authority and influence for centuries.

The trigger of the unrest was a Pakistani Army strike against a suspected Al Qaeda camp in the border village of Saidgi last week that authorities said killed 45 people, including foreign militants. It was launched two days before a visit by President Bush, fueling speculation Pakistan was flexing its military muscle in the border regions to signal its commitment to the US-led war on terrorism.