New Delhi: At least 30 civilians, mostly women and children, were killed in an airstrike by the Pakistan Air Force on Matre Dara village in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa's Tirah Valley early on Monday, highly-placed sources have claimed.
The attacks began around 2 am when JF-17 fighter jets dropped at least eight Chinese-made LS-6 bombs on the remote settlement. Eyewitnesses claimed widespread destruction. Bodies were strewn in the rubble-strewn streets and survivors were digging through the collapsed houses with their bare hands.
A source gave details of the massacre, saying, "Entire families have been wiped out. Most of the victims are women and children who had no chance of survival.’’ The Tirah Valley near the Afghan border has long been a conflict zone where Pakistani forces have repeatedly launched attacks against the Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) and other armed groups. But the deaths of civilians in such attacks have been sharply criticized by human rights organizations in the past. The Pakistani military has not yet issued an official statement about the attacks.