Pakistan's spy chief briefs lawmakers on terrorism

The fledgling civilian government called the special session of parliament as it sought political unity to stabilize the key U.S. ally in the war on terror.

Military officials showed the lawmakers footage of militants in the act of killing people, said two people who attended. They requested anonymity because they had been sworn to secrecy.

One of the attendees said they were also given statistics but declined to divulge them other than to say some appeared to have already been made public.

Suicide attacks have killed nearly 1,200 people since July 2007, most of them civilians, military data released last month showed. The date showed 1,368 security force personnel had been killed since late 2001, when Pakistan's former military ruler Pervez Musharraf allied with Washington in the war on terror.

The U.S. says the militants use Pakistan as a staging ground for attacks in Afghanistan. But American officials have praised a two-month-old Pakistani offensive in the Bajur tribal region that the Pakistani military claims has killed more than 1,000 insurgents.

At least 20 suspected militants were killed in fresh strikes there Wednesday, authorities said. Eight were believed to be foreigners.

Many in Pakistan blame that alliance with the U.S. for the rise in violence here. American missile strikes on militant hideouts in Pakistani territory along the Afghan border, where Osama bin Laden is rumored to be hiding, have further angered the population.

The briefing lasted about three hours and was to resume Thursday morning.

Officials said the session was an effort to include opposition parties in a discussion aimed at forging a national anti-terror plan.