PESHAWAR, Pakistan: Pakistan police and security sources said aerial bombing in a remote border region killed at least 23 civilians on Monday (Sept 22) in an area where militancy has been rising.
Opposition MPs accused the military of carrying out the night raid as part of a counter-terrorism operation, but no official statement has been released by the government or armed forces.
Pakistani Taliban (TTP) militants have in recent months stepped up a campaign of violence against security forces in the mountainous areas of Khyber Pakhtunkwa province that border Afghanistan.
"It was the security force's aircraft that carried out the shelling. It's their shelling that killed 23 people," Iqbal Afridi, an opposition member of the National Assembly whose constituency covers Tirah where the assault happened, told AFP.
Speaking in the Khyber Pakhtunkwa assembly on Monday afternoon, provincial MP Sohail Khan Afridi also blamed the military.
"This assault by the security forces is nothing less than an attack on unarmed civilians," he said.
Both MPs are members of jailed former prime minister Imran Khan's party which controls Khyber Pakhtunkwa province.
A senior police officer stationed in the town of Tirah told AFP that seven women and four children were among the 23 dead, without saying who carried out at the assault.
"The jets targeted four houses, which were completely destroyed," he said, asking not to be named.
"Tirah is near the Pakistan-Afghan border and is home to multiple TTP hideouts. In recent months, there have been several attacks on security forces in this area."
A security officer based in Peshawar, who confirmed the death toll, said there are "dozens of TTP hideouts" in the area where militants reside with their families. He also refused to say who had carried out the assault.
On Monday afternoon, around 2,000 people gathered in a nearby town to protest against the deadly raid.
The TTP once overran swaths of territory that borders Afghanistan, before a counter-terrorism operation that began in 2014 pushed them back.
Tens of thousands of civilians were killed or displaced during the offensive.
Village councils have repeatedly raised fears in recent months that the military could launch a counter-terrorism operation in response to the rising violence and put civilians in the cross-hairs.
The Human Rights Commission of Pakistan said it was "deeply shocked" to learn of the deaths on Monday "allegedly as a result of aerial bombing".
"We demand that the authorities carry out an immediate and impartial inquiry into the incident and hold to account those responsible." - AFP
