Missile strikes from US drones kill 5 in Pakistan

The latest in a barrage of suspected US missile strikes in Pakistan's northwest killed five people, but none were believed to be foreign al-Qaeda fighters, officials said yesterday.
Two unmanned drones were seen above the town of Miran Shah in the North Waziristan tribal region minutes before missiles hit a house near a matchbox factory Saturday, two intelligence officials said.
US pilotless spy planes on Sunday flew over a Pakistani tribal town bordering Afghanistan just hours after a missile strike killed at least five people, residents said.
Two missiles from suspected US drones overnight struck a compound just outside Miranshah, the main town in the restive North Waziristan district, which is seen as a safe haven for al-Qaeda and Taliban militants.
The targeted compound was the residence of Taliban militant Omar Daraz, a security official told AFP, giving no further details.
There was no reaction to the attacks from the Pakistan government, though the military said they were aware of the strike.
"We have reports about an explosion incident in Miranshah," chief military spokesman Major General Athar Abbas told AFP.
Residents on Sunday said they could see three drones overhead as they sifted through the remains of the destroyed compound searching for further casualties.
Some tribesmen fired at the drones, but there was no damage to the aircraft or any return fire.
Pakistan has been protesting recent missile strikes blamed on US forces based in Afghanistan and has termed them a violation of its sovereignty.
The officials spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorised to speak to the media. They said reports from local informants so far said none of the dead were foreigners.
Army spokesmen could not immediately be reached for comment.
Also on Sunday, government official Jamil Khan said security forces waging an offensive in the Bajur tribal region killed at least 14 more suspected militants.
al-Qaeda, a mainly Arab terror network, and the Taliban, which has both Afghan and Pakistani components, have established bases in Pakistan's tribal regions, where they are said to plan attacks on US and Nato forces across the border in Afghanistan.
Under US pressure, Pakistan has carried out military offensives against insurgents while also trying to woo various tribes to turn against extremists. But the United States has recently signalled its impatience with Pakistani efforts by apparently staging several cross-border assaults.
The latest strike brings to 12 the number of missile attacks believed carried out by the US since mid-August. More than 100 people, most of them alleged militants, have been killed, according to figures provided to The Associated Press by Pakistani intelligence officials.
The US rarely confirms or denies the attacks. Pakistani leaders routinely criticise the strikes as violations of sovereignty, but those protests have had little tangible effect on the two nations' anti-terror alliance.
Khan told the AP that helicopter gunships shelled militants' bunkers overnight in the Charmang area of Bajur. Insurgents there were fighting a local tribal militia formed to rid the area of militants. Two local tribesmen also were killed, Khan said.