Pakistan hits Taliban as schools ordered to close

Pakistani helicopter gunships attacked Taliban bases near the Afghan border yesterday as authorities ordered educational institutions closed amid fears of retaliatory militant strikes.

Pakistani forces launched an offensive to wrest control of the lawless South Waziristan region on Saturday after militants rocked the country with a string of bomb and suicide attacks, killing more than 150 people.

A day after six people were killed in two suicide bomb attacks at an Islamabad university, authorities ordered schools and colleges closed, unsettling stock investors, with the main index ending 3.36 per cent lower at 9,247.78.

"The tense law and order situation as evidenced by the closure of schools throughout the country has truly spooked stock market investors," said Asad Iqbal, managing director at Ismail Iqbal Securities Ltd.

Remote and rugged South Waziristan, with its rocky mountains and patchy forests cut through by dry creeks and ravines, is a global hub for militants.

The offensive is being closely followed by the United States and other powers embroiled in Afghanistan.

Government forces initially faced light resistance, but fighting has intensified as soldiers approach the militants' main sanctuaries in the mountains.