Pakistan’s military has arrested more than 100 suspects in their five-day assault on al-Qaida militants holed up in mud fortresses along the border, the military commander in charge of the operation said today.

Pakistani attack helicopters and artillery resumed pounding hundreds of al Qaida suspects and tribesmen besieged in mud fortresses where al Qaida number two Ayman al-Zawahri is believed hiding in a Pakistani border region early today.

Thousands of Pakistani army reinforcements were joining a major offensive today in tribal border villages where al-Qaida’s Number 2 leader, Ayman al-Zawahri, is believed surrounded.