WANA, Sept 11: About 25 victims, who were killed in an airstrike on Budawaz Garang in the Luddah sub-division in the troubled South Waziristan region, were identified as local tribal militants and common tribesmen on Saturday.

About 50 people had been killed when PAF aircraft and gunships bombed a suspected militant training facility in the area on Thursday morning.

Residents confirmed that so far six bodies of children, including four students, had been recovered from the site of the bombing. They took their bodies after identification in the Luddah Fort on Saturday.

Two bodies had been identified as Minhajuddin, 14, son of Faqir Muhammad, who was a student of 7th class; and Shehsawar Khan, 12, son of Musa, a student of class 5 in government middle school in Shinkai.

After the identification, authorities handed over their bodies to elders of Luddah sub-division.

Apart from these four students, two other schoolgoing children, who had fallen prey to Thursday's airstrikes, were buried in Wana, the regional headquarters.

Witnesses said that local people had retrieved decomposed bodies from the debris as many of them were beyond recognition. They were buried in a mass grave in the area.

Funeral prayers for 25 victims were held amid high tension. A small number of people turned up to attend the funerals due to fear of airstrikes and closure of roads leading to the area.

The injured people could not be shifted to hospitals in Wana as the authorities had blocked all roads, restricting movement of tribesmen in these areas. Most of the injured were provided treatment at local level.

Army spokesman Maj-Gen Shaukat Sultan claimed that there were no civilians casualties in the airstrikes. He said: "If there were any locals, they were those who have been equally involved in terrorist activities."

The three-day clashes have left more than 72 people, including 14 security personnel, dead whereas the number of wounded people is yet to be confirmed.

Some wounded tribesmen being shifted to hospitals in other areas, were taken into custody by members of law-enforcement agencies and they were taken to a military hospital in Wana.

The locals also hesitated taking the injured to hospital for fear of arrests and preferred to treat the injured at their houses, reports suggest.

Tension is running high in Wana and other parts of the South Waziristan as PAF jets and gunships were flying over the region throughout the day.

Meanwhile, the authorities claimed that two military convoys had reached the Karwan Manza and taken control of the area. No resistance from the militants in the area was reported.

According to sources, law-enforcement agencies also held talks with a local leader of the militants, Abdullah Mahsud, to give a safe passage to military troops on their way to Makeen sub-division from Wana on the border between the South and North Waziristan Agencies.

The Makeen bazaar having 1500 to 2000 shops remained closed for the third consecutive day as the people feared a fresh military action.

However, the tribal leader expressed his inability to prevail upon the militants to stop attacks on the military convoys moving in the area.

On Friday night, three rockets were fired at a fort in the Sarwekai subdivision, but no casualties were reported.

NORTH WAZIRISTAN: An official of the Military Intelligence and a soldier were wounded when militants opened fire on a vehicle in mountainous Shawal region on Friday night, our correspondent Pazir Gul adds from Miramshah.

Official sources said that the firing incident took place in Shawal, about 90 kilometres west of Miramshah, the administrative headquarters.

The wounded official has been identified as Major Qamar, who was shifted to a military hospital in South Waziristan. His condition was stated to be serious.

Reports said that the government was sending more reinforcements to the Datakhel area near the Afghan border. The security forces have occupied the only health care centre in the area and also school buildings to be used as their base stations. The occupation of the centre has deprived a large population of health care facility in the remote area.