Pakistan police and security sources said an aerial bombing in a remote border region killed at least 23 civilians on Monday in an area where militancy has been rising.
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Opposition MPs accused the military of carrying out the night raid as part of a counter-terrorism operation, but no official statement has been released by the government or armed forces.
Pakistani Taliban (TTP) militants have in recent months stepped up a campaign of violence against security forces in the mountainous areas of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province that border Afghanistan.
“It was the security force’s aircraft that carried out the shelling. It’s their shelling that killed 23 people,” said Iqbal Afridi, an opposition member of the National Assembly whose constituency covers Tirah where the assault happened.
Speaking in the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa assembly on Monday afternoon, provincial MP Sohail Khan Afridi also blamed the military.
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“This assault by the security forces is nothing less than an attack on unarmed civilians,” he said.
Both MPs are members of jailed former prime minister Imran Khan’s party, which controls Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province.