'US' missiles kill 20 in Pakistan
Suspected US missiles hit buildings in two Pakistani villages close to the Afghan border, killing 20 people, most of them alleged militants, officials said yesterday.
"Our reports suggest that around 20 suspected militants were killed when a missile hit a house in Mohammad Khel village in North Waziristan. Most were foreigners," a senior Pakistani security official said.
The United States has launched a flurry of strikes in recent weeks against suspected al-Qaeda and Taliban targets in northwestern Pakistan, straining ties between the two anti-terror allies.
Pakistan has been unwilling or unable to eliminate militant sanctuaries blamed for rising violence on both sides of the frontier. The region is a possible hiding place for al-Qaeda chief Osama bin Laden.
Two Pakistani intelligence officers said two missiles believed to have been fired from American unmanned drones launched from neighbouring Afghanistan hit two villages in the same district of the North Waziristan tribal region just before dusk on Friday.
One attack in Mohammadkhel village about 28 miles west of Miran Shah, the region's main town, killed about 19 people, most of them alleged militants but also including about a half-dozen foreigners, the officials said, citing agents in the field.
The intelligence officials spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorised to speak to media on the record.
Pakistan army spokesman Maj Gen Athar Abbas said initial reports indicated that 20 or more people were killed. He said there was speculation that many were foreign militants but cautioned that the army was still awaiting a detailed report.
There were no reported casualties in the other strike in the village of Khata Kaly.
Lt Nathan Perry, a spokesman for the US-led coalition in Afghanistan, said he had "no information to give" about the reported attacks. He did not deny US involvement.
Friday's attack appeared to be the deadliest of 11 reported cross-border operations by US-led forces since Aug. 20.
US officials have acknowledged some of the strikes. However, they have provide few details, and casualty reports from the dangerous and remote border region are nearly impossible to verify.
Pakistan's military and civilian leaders have complained that the attacks violate the country's sovereignty, kill civilians and anger the local population, making it harder to crack down on the militants.
Militants on the Pakistan side of the border are blamed for a surge in attacks on US and Nato troops in Afghanistan, where violence is running at its highest level since the 2001 US-led invasion toppled the Taliban.
Extremists based in the border region are also blamed for rising attacks within Pakistan, including the Sept. 20 truck bombing of the Marriott Hotel in Islamabad that killed more than 50 people.
Meanwhile, Pakistani troops backed by artillery killed 25 Taliban militants in the latest clashes in the troubled tribal district of Bajaur on the Afghan border, officials said Thursday.
Gunbattles erupted overnight and continued until late Thursday after militants attacked security checkposts in four villages in the restive region, a security official told AFP.
"There were fierce clashes and we have reports of 25 militants being killed" in the villages of Rashakai, Tang Khata, Bai Cheena and Khazana, the official said on condition of anonymity.
There was no way to independently verify the toll.
Separately, the local government has ordered Afghan refugees in Bajaur to leave the area within three days, a government official told AFP.
There are an estimated 70,000 Afghan refugees in Bajaur, who have been living there since the late 1970s after fleeing the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan.
The Pakistani military says more than 1,000 militants have been killed since it launched its offensive in Bajaur in early August, including al-Qaeda's operational commander in the region, Egyptian Abu Saeed Al-Masri. (AP, AFP)
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