April 7, 2006	Friday	Rabi-ul-Awwal 8, 1427

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MIRAMSHAH, April 6: Authorities in the tribal areas on Thursday asked tribesmen to help identify eight suspected militants killed by the military in intense fighting in this volatile northern region a day earlier, residents said.

The men were among 16 men who the military said were killed on Wednesday in Wana, a village about 50km west of Miramshah, a town in the North Waziristan tribal region near the Afghan border.

The killings followed a attack on a military base near the Afghan border that left four Pakistani soldiers dead and came amid more than a month of intensified fighting in the area between Pakistani forces and militants allied to the Taliban.

Authorities displayed the bodies of the dead militants at a government compound on Thursday so that they could be identified, tribal elder Shrin Akbar told The Associated Press.

Sabirullah, a shop owner who saw the bodies, said the dead men’s features indicated they came from North Waziristan, but added that he did not know who they were. Military officials were not immediately available for comment.

Militants also fired two rockets at a military post on the outskirts of Miramshah late Wednesday, but caused no damage or casualties.

Security forces returned fire and the attackers fled into the night, the official added.—AP