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Suspected U.S. strike kills twenty in North Waziristan |
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Updated at:
0200
PST, Monday, October 27, 2008 |
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WANA: Suspected US spy drones fired missiles on Sunday into an alleged militant compound in a Pakistani tribal area bordering Afghanistan, killing at least twenty people, security officials said.
The air strike in South Waziristan -- a known hub of Al-Qaeda and Taliban activity -- was the latest in a string of attacks on Pakistani soil that have raised tensions between Islamabad and Washington.
The strike targeted a compound about 20 kilometres (12 miles) northeast of Wana, the main town in the tribal zone, the officials said.
"Mature reports said at least twenty people were killed in the missile strike, which destroyed the facility," one senior security official told media.
There was no immediate confirmation of the strike from the Pakistani military or from the US-led coalition in Afghanistan.
Sunday's strike was the 12th such incident in the past 10 weeks, all of which have been blamed on US-led coalition forces or CIA drones based in Afghanistan.
U.S. and Afghan officials say northwest Pakistan is a safe haven for Al-Qaeda and Taliban militants who sneaked in from Afghanistan after the fall of the Taliban regime in late 2001.
But Pakistani President Asif Ali Zardari has vowed zero tolerance against violations of his country's sovereignty amid the strikes, which have stoked anti-U.S. sentiment in Pakistan.
Last week, 11 people were killed when suspected U.S. spy drones fired missiles into a school in North Waziristan set up by veteran Taliban militant Jalaluddin Haqqani, a major target for US forces, security officials said. |
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ISSN 1563-9479 
