Villagers flee al Qaeda hunt
 |  The burnt-out remains of a Pakistani paramilitary vehicle. |
|  VIDEO |
 Powell pledges more action against the Taliban
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ISLAMABAD, Pakistan (CNN) -- Hundreds of frightened people near the Pakistan-Afghan border have fled their homes after fierce clashes between Pakistani troops and local tribesman apparently protecting suspected al Qaeda fighters.
Angry tribesmen torched more than a dozen military vehicles -- some loaded with ammunition -- on Wednesday and Tuesday after the Pakistani military launched the offensive on Monday.
At least 39 people have been killed in the bloody crackdown by Pakistani forces near Wana in the tribal-controlled South Waziristan region.
Fifteen soldiers have died, while Pakistani forces have killed 24 suspects, most of which were foreign fighters and not Pakistanis, military officials said.
Intelligence officers are also questioning 18 people captured during the raids.
The region, which has resisted outside intervention for centuries, holds remnants of the Taliban, Afghanistan's former Muslim rulers, and the al Qaeda terrorist network, U.S. and Pakistani officials believe.
Some also suspect al Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden -- the mastermind of the September 11, 2001, attacks on New York and Washington -- may also be there.
"For the first time in the history, Pakistani forces have entered there to finish the terrorists," Pakistani Information Minister Shiekh Rashid Ahmed told CNN on Thursday.
"We are committed against terrorism and we have to pay the price," he said.
"Our soldiers sacrificed their lives yesterday ... but we have to face this crisis, and we are ready to face it and ultimately we will get rid of these terrorists."
The whereabouts of bin Laden was still unknown, the minister said, but added that Pakistani forces were "ready to catch him."
U.S. offensive
|  A Pakistani paramilitary soldier near a checkpoint in Wana. |
U.S. Secretary of State Colin Powell applauded the Pakistani effort and is set to discuss the operation with Pakistani President Pervez Musharraf on Thursday during a visit to Islamabad.
"We regret the loss of Pakistani life in this effort but it shows, I think, good intentions on the part of Pakistan not to allow these tribal areas to be used as a haven for the Taliban," Powell said at news conference in the Afghan capital Kabul on Wednesday.
Pakistan forces have launched a number of sweeps for "suspected foreign terrorists" along the border after Afghan and U.S. officials complained they were escaping to sanctuaries in Pakistan.
About 70,000 Pakistan forces are in the tribal regions and the recent offensive coincides with a major U.S. military operation on the other side of the border in Afghanistan to capture terror suspects.
They hope to catch al Qaeda and Taliban members in the middle as the U.S. and Pakistani militaries press in from both sides.
Though a spring offensive across southern and eastern Afghanistan, called Operation "Mountain Storm", is yet to be officially launched, U.S. military operations there have been stepped up.
A series of weekend raids in Afghanistan's mountainous border region with Pakistan resulted in the deaths of three anti-coalition fighters, and netted 13 captives.
U.S. officials have said that ground troops and aircraft are expected to move into Afghanistan's southeastern border region near Pakistan in the next few weeks.
As the weather warms and the snow melts, Taliban and al Qaeda fighters are becoming more active with U.S. troops reporting an increase in firefights and rocket attacks on their bases.
More fighters are also expected to move across the border from Pakistan to Afghanistan where U.S. forces plan to be waiting for them.
Military officials said they do not expect U.S. forces in Afghanistan to increase beyond the current level of 11,000.
CNN Islamabad Bureau Chief Ash-har Quraishi and Producer Syed Mohsin Naqvi contributed to this report.
