MIRAN SHAH, Pakistan — Pakistan's army retaliated with helicopter gunships and artillery after pro-Taliban tribesmen clashed with security forces Saturday near the Afghan border. At least 49 combatants were killed, a spokesman said.
Anger has been stirring among the tribesmen since a military strike on a suspected al-Qaida camp earlier this week in the nearby village of Saidgi.
Maj. Gen. Shaukat Sultan, the army spokesman, said 25 militants were killed in Miran Shah and 21 in Mir Ali, but he added the toll could be higher. Three government troops also died and about 10 were wounded, he said.
The violence came as President Bush visited the capital, Islamabad, about 190 miles to the northeast, and voiced solidarity with Pakistan's President Gen. Pervez Musharraf in fighting terrorism.
Pakistan has deployed about 80,000 troops along the Afghan frontier but has failed to establish government control in tribal regions that have resisted outside influence for centuries.
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The area is known to be a hotbed of al-Qaida and Taliban militants who draw support from the local Pashtun tribal people.
Many of the rebellious tribesmen involved in Saturday's unrest were believed to be Islamic students sympathetic to the hard-line Taliban militia.
Military officials said 45 people, including foreign militants, were killed in Wednesday's attack by helicopter gunships and ground forces on Saidgi, about 10 miles from Miran Shah. The tribesmen say local people died in the attack.
