Pakistan officials: Suspected US strikes kill 12

• IBTimes RSS
• Print
• E-Mail
• digg
• Del.icio.us

American forces recently ramped up cross-border operations against Taliban and al-Qaida militants in Pakistan's border zone with Afghanistan a region considered a likely hiding place for Osama bin Laden.

Two missiles believed to have been fired from U.S. unmanned drones launched from neighboring Afghanistan hit the villages in North Waziristan just before dusk, according to the officials who spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to speak to the media.

A missile strike in one village killed at least 12 people, while there were no reported casualties in the other, they said. The officials did not identify the victims.

Chief Pakistani army spokesman Maj. Gen. Athar Abbas said officers were investigating the reported strikes, but could not confirm them. U.S. officials in Afghanistan or Washington rarely acknowledge the attacks.

Earlier this week, officials said that a suspected U.S. missile strike on a Taliban commander's home in Pakistan killed six people late Tuesday.

Pakistan says the attacks often result in civilian casualties and serve to fan extremism. American officials complain that Pakistan was unwilling or unable to act against the militants, straining ties between the two anti-terror allies.

Militants in the border region are blamed for rising attacks on U.S. troops in Afghanistan and attacks within Pakistan, including the Sept. 20 truck bombing of the Marriott Hotel in Islamabad that killed more than 50 people.

On Friday, Pakistan's Interior Minister chief Rehman Malik said the country's war against Islamic extremists will go on until it is "terrorism-free."

Previous Pakistani military campaigns against Islamic militants in the wild tribal belt along the Afghan frontier were halted too soon, he said an apparent reference to the policies of former President Pervez Musharraf.

• 1
• 2