Some 600 people gathered in Tank, a small town near the South Waziristan region, where the military said earlier Tuesday it had destroyed three suspected Al-Qaeda hideouts occupied by 25 to 30 local and foreign militants.

The protesters, including elders from the local Mahsud tribe, religious scholars and elected representatives, blocked traffic and chanted slogans against Pakistani President Pervez Musharraf and his US counterpart George W Bush, witnesses said.

"The attack was unjust, it killed innocent people," tribal leader Dilawar Khan told the rally.

He said the bombing had killed eight people and left several others wounded.

Earlier, military spokesman Major General Shaukat Sultan told AFP most of the 25 to 30 "foreign terrorists" and their local facilitators were believed to have been killed in the attack on the Zamazola town near the Afghan border.

The tribal leader however insisted there were no foreigners present and the victims were all "local labourers who were cutting trees when the raid was conducted."