Attack on Islamic school:

Where to rest in peace?

The Pakistani military confirmed last week that it had destroyed a religious school in the Bajaur tribal area, near the border with Afghanistan, killing as many as 80 people it described as militants.

Helicopter gunships fired missiles into the Islamic school, or madrasa, in the village of Chingai near the town of Khar, military officials said.

Among those reported killed in the predawn attack was Maulvi Liaqut, a cleric whom the authorities have accused of sheltering local and foreign militants. Mr. Liaqut was affiliated with the banned militant organization Tehreek Nifaz-e-Shariat Mohammadi, which had recruited thousands of Pakistanis to fight with the Taliban in Afghanistan.

"We received confirmed intelligence reports that 70 to 80 militants were hiding in a madrasa used as a terrorist-training facility, which was destroyed by an army strike, led by helicopters," Maj. Gen. Shaukat Sultan, a military spokesman, told The Associated Press.

"No high-value target was present at the time of the attack," General Sultan was quoted as saying, referring to top leaders of Al Qaeda or the Taliban.Some local residents and opposition politicians said there were children in the school, and contended that American planes had participated in the attack.

General Sultan said that no children or women had been in the madrasa and that no American or NATO troops had been involved.Local television channels showed images of the site, where thousands of people had gathered around the rubble of the madrasa. Armed men were seen standing amid the bodies.

Residents of the nearby village of Damadola, reached by telephone, said they were awakened Monday at about 5 a.m. by two explosions, and when they went to look, it appeared that the school had been destroyed.

So powerful

Haroon Rashid, a lawmaker from Jamaat-e-Islami who lives half a mile from the school, said that the two explosions were "so powerful that it shook the earth and rattled our doors and windows.

" Three Pakistan Army helicopter gunships appeared 15 minutes later, firing rockets, the residents said.

One man, who identified himself as Akhunzada, said local residents had seen planes flying over the area in recent days.

General Sultan was quoted as saying that the attack was carried out after those in charge of the building refused warnings to close it down. The A.P. quoted hospital officials as saying that only three of the people inside the building had survived, and that they were wounded.

Pakistani officials dismissed any suggestions that the United States was behind the attack. Tasnim Aslam, the spokeswoman for the Foreign Affairs Ministry, said at a weekly news briefing that the attack was not carried out in response to foreign pressure.

But opposition Islamist parties were quick to denounce the attack and blame America. Qazi Hussain Ahmed, the leader of Jamaat-e-Islami, contended that innocent children had been killed.

"Why have they owned this very shameful act of killing the innocent people?" Mr. Ahmed said at a news briefing, contending that the Pakistani Army was covering up for an American attack.

"This area is not an area where there can be any training camp," he said. "This is actually tantamount to a declaration of war on Pakistan."

Muttahida Majlis-e-Amal, an alliance of opposition Islamist parties, called for nationwide protests on Tuesday.

Siraj ul-Haq, a cabinet minister from the nearby North-West Frontier Province, condemned the attack and said he would resign from the government in protest, The A.P. reported. "The government has launched an attack during the night, which is against Islam and the traditions of the area," Mr. Haq said.

Causing outrage

"This was an unprovoked attack on a madrasa." Mr. Liaqut was a known supporter of the Taliban and Al Qaeda. He is believed to have removed the bodies of foreign Qaeda militants killed in an airstrike last January in Damadola by an American Predator drone, a pilotless aircraft.

The aircraft was operated by the Central Intelligence Agency in an effort to capture Ayman al-Zawahri, Al Qaeda's second in command.Mr. Zawahri was not present at the time, but local officials said the attack killed 18 civilians, causing nationwide outrage and galvanizing tribes in the region in their opposition to the government in Islamabad.

The airstrikes on Monday came as tribal elders in Bajaur were beginning talks with pro-Taliban militants, including Mr. Liaqut, in an effort supported by the government to stem cross-border attacks in Afghanistan. Similar overtures in North Waziristan led to an agreement recently with pro-Taliban groups there.

"This attack is very strange, as we were told Sunday that the peace agreement would be signed," Mohammed Sadiq, a local lawmaker, told The A.P.

Faqir Muhammad, believed to be a deputy of Mr. Zawahri, addressed a crowd of mourners on Monday at a mass funeral for the victims, The A.P. reported. The strikes on Monday happened two days after thousands of tribesmen protested in Bajaur, which borders the restive Afghan province of Kunar, against the United States and its Pakistani supporters. NATO and Afghan officials have repeatedly made accusations that militants linked to the Taliban have taken shelter in the border region to carry out attacks on civilians and Western troops in southern Afghanistan.

The Afghan government has accused Pakistan of allowing the Taliban and Al Qaeda to build a power base among the independent tribal population along the border. The Pakistani government has said it has sent more than 80,000 troops to the tribal areas near the Afghan border to flush out the militants.

AP