US drones kill 18 Pak Taliban
A major salvo of US missiles yesterday destroyed a Pakistani Taliban base on the Afghan border, killing up to 18 militants including possible al-Qaeda fighters, local officials said.
Five US drones fired up to 10 missiles into a sprawling compound in the Baber Ghar area of South Waziristan, killing 15 to 18 fighters in the deadliest American strike reported by Pakistani officials in three months.
US officials say Pakistan's tribal belt provides sanctuary to Taliban fighting for 10 years against US troops in Afghanistan, al-Qaeda groups plotting attacks on the West and Pakistani Taliban who routinely bomb Pakistan.
Officials said the attacks came minutes apart at around 2:30am about three kilometres from the border of Afghanistan's Paktia province, one of the flashpoints in the 10-year Taliban insurgency.
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