Pakistan Braces for a Backlash After Taliban Raid

An air strike on a religious school kills 80, raising prospects for new unrest directed at Musharraf.

A Pakistani military air strike on a pro-Taliban religious school in the country's volatile North West Frontier Province has set off a flurry of protest in Pakistan, and threatens to stoke the fires of local insurgency against the central government. It has also raised questions about the target and authors of the assault.

Helicopters attacked a madrassah near the town Khar just before dawn, drowning out the muezzin's call to prayer with a barrage of bullets and missiles. Within two hours the main building of the seminary had collapsed, killing some 80 men inside, according to local witnesses. The madrassah was reputed to be a refuge for local and Afghan Taliban, and its firebrand leader, Maulvi Liaqatullah — believed to have been killed in attack, according to army spokesman Major General Shaukat Sultan — was a vocal Taliban supporter.