US missile strike kills five in Pakistan: officials

MIRANSHAH, Pakistan, Jan 19, 2010 (AFP) - A US drone missile attack Tuesday killed at least five suspected militants in the 11th such strike targeting Pakistan's northwest Taliban strongholds this month, security officials said.

The missiles pounded a militant compound in a village 30 kilometres (18 miles) west of Miranshah, the main town in the North Waziristan tribal region.


Pakistan's lawless tribal belt runs along the Afghan border and Washington has branded it the most dangerous place in the world, rife with Taliban and Al-Qaeda-linked militants plotting attacks on Western targets.

"Two missiles fired by a US drone hit a compound which was being used by militants," said a senior security official in the area.

"Five militants were killed in the strike. One missile hit the compound and the other hit a nearby vehicle. Three people sitting in the car were killed and two others were killed in the compound."

Another security official confirmed the strike and casualties in Degan village. Neither official wanted to be named because of the sensitivity of the strikes, which fuel anti-American sentiment in the Muslim nation.

"It is not clear if any high-value target was present in the area at the time of the attack," the official said.

A volley of drone strikes has hit the northwest this month, all in North Waziristan, a bastion of Al-Qaeda fighters, the Taliban and the Haqqani network, known for staging attacks on US and NATO troops in Afghanistan.

Officials familiar with Degan said it was also a stronghold of Hafiz Gul Bahadur, a militant close to the Taliban who is reputed to control up to 2,000 fighters whom he sends across the border to attack troops in Afghanistan.

A number of US strikes last week are reported to have targeted Pakistani Taliban leader Hakimullah Mehsud, but he dispelled rumours of his death in an audio recording Saturday, also vowing revenge for the drone programme.

More than 740 people have been killed in about 80 US drone strikes in Pakistan since August 2008.

The bombings by unmanned US aircraft have soared recently, as US President Barack Obama puts Pakistan at the heart of his administration's fight against Al-Qaeda and Islamist extremists.

The Pakistani government publicly condemns the strikes but US officials say they are necessary to protect foreign soldiers stationed in Afghanistan, and say a number of high-value extremists have been killed in the bombing raids.

Hakimullah Mehsud's predecessor, Baitullah Mehsud, was killed in a US drone strike last August.

Washington is also pressing Islamabad to tackle militants who use Pakistani soil to launch attacks in Afghanistan, where about 113,000 troops under US and NATO command are battling a Taliban insurgency.

Last year, Pakistan's armed forces launched multiple assaults on Taliban strongholds across the tribal belt but up until now there have only been limited operations in North Waziristan.


by Hasbanullah Khan
(c) 2010 AFP