US strike kills 5 militants in Pakistan

Suspected US missiles killed five militants in Pakistan's al-Qaeda-infested tribal belt yesterday, not far from where 30,000 troops are battling a major offensive against home-grown Taliban while militant's blew up the two-storey school on the outskirts of Bara town.
The attack, which Pakistani officials said was carried out by a US drone, targeted a house in North Waziristan, where Washington says Islamist militants fighting 100,000 US and Nato troops in Afghanistan are hiding.
"It was a US drone attack which targeted a compound of a local tribesman, Musharraf Gul, in Norak village," a senior security official told AFP.
Two missiles were fired from a US drone at 1:30 am (2030 GMT Wednesday).
Another security official confirmed the attack and said "Taliban rebels were using the compound. Five militants were killed and four others wounded."
"It is not clear if there was any high-value target," the official said, adding: "We also do not know yet the identity of the militants."
Local residents and security officials said Musharraf Gul, aged between 28 and 30, was a cab driver who had fraternized with militants for more than 18 months.
"Musharraf opened fire after the missile strike in a bid to keep villagers away. He buried the bodies of militants killed in the attack with the help of fellow rebels, who are still guarding the place," said a security official.
In the meantime, militants on Thursday blew up a second girls' school in less than a week in the lawless district of Khyber, on the main supply line for US and Nato troops fighting in landlocked Afghanistan, local officials said.
"Militants used 25 to 30 kilograms (55 to 66 pounds) of explosives to blow up the two-storey school on the outskirts of Bara town," local administration official Farooq Khan told AFP.