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Pakistani troops search for al-Qaeda(500 Troops raid a village) Hundreds of Pakistani troops raided a village in the tribal South Waziristan district looking for al-Qaeda-linked militants thought to be hiding in the area, security officials said. Some 500 soldiers backed by two helicopters participated in the search operation, they said. They searched seven house in Raghzai town some 20km northwest of South Waziristan's district capital Wana, a security official said, without giving his name. "No one was arrested and no arms or ammunition were recovered," he said. Local tribesmen offered "no resistance" during the search which continued for several hours,...

Deathly silence descends on South Waziristan KARACHI - Villagers in Pakistan's South Waziristan agency have left their homes, fearing the United States will soon begin dropping bombs, while aircraft from the Afghan side of the border fly overhead. On the ground, burnt-out military vehicles litter the landscape. The fighting has stopped and an eerie silence prevails over the area, said Zafar, a resident of Wana who gave an eyewitness account to Asia Times Online from Watchadana, which borders Afghanistan. But the present calm is just the beginning of a new storm. Tuesday's deadly clash between Pakistani forces and local tribespeople...

PESHAWAR, March 16: Pitched battles between hundreds of troops and suspected militants in the remote South Waziristan tribal region on Tuesday left at least 14 paramilitary soldiers and 24 suspected militants dead and scores of others wounded, official sources said.At least 18 paramilitary troops were missing and it was not immediately clear whether they also had been killed in the day- long battles and ambushes, the sources said.Two tehsildars of the local administration were also missing. "They are counting the heads," said one senior official in Peshawar late in the evening. "They are searching for their men and we don't...

WANA, Pakistan (Reuters) - Pakistani paramilitary forces have attacked tribal fighters sheltering al Qaeda militants near the rugged Afghan border and at least nine people have been killed in clashes that raged through the day, officials say. Heavy exchanges of gunfire erupted at dawn on Tuesday. The tribesman put up stiff resistance and later launched hit-and-run raids on their attackers, a security official and a witness said. The fighting came a day before U.S. Secretary of State Colin Powell was due to visit Pakistan. Speaking as he flew to India on Monday, Powell urged Pakistan to ramp up its military...