ISLAMABAD: Missiles fired from a US spy plane killed ten people yesterday in Pakistan just east of the Afghan border, a lawless region where Al-Qaeda militants are known to hide out, security officials said. At least five of the dead were identified as foreign militants, an intelligence officer said.
One drone fired three missiles into the village of Zharki in North Waziristan, hitting two buildings over the space of 10 minutes, the security officials said. They spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to speak to the media. At least 10 people were killed, they said. Their names were not released.
Frustrated over what it sees as Pakistan’s failure to stem the flow of Al-Qaeda and Taleban militants from its lawless tribal regions into Afghanistan, the United States stepped up cross-border attacks last year. The missiles hit a house in a town two km west of Mir Ali, a major town of the region on the Afghan border, the officials said. “Ten bodies have been pulled out the rubble,” Ismail Wazir, a villager told Reuters by telephone.
He said the owner of the house, two brothers and three nephews were among the dead while intelligence officials said some foreign militants were also killed. There was no information on the identity of the foreign militants.
The strikes were the first on Pakistani territory since the inauguration of President Barrack Obama, but the latest in a barrage of more than 30 since the middle of last year. Pakistan’s pro-US leaders had expressed hope Obama would halt the attacks, which have reportedly killed several top Al-Qaeda operatives but triggered anger at the government by nationalist and Muslim critics.
Islamabad routinely protests the strikes in the northwest as a violation of the country’s sovereignty, but most observers speculate it has an unwritten agreement allowing them to take place, noting it would be highly damaging to be seen as colluding with Washington in attacks on its people.
The United States rarely acknowledges firing the missiles, which are mostly fired from drones believed launched from neighboring Afghanistan, but there is little doubt it is responsible.
Washington is pressing Pakistan to crackdown on militants in the border, which it blames for rising attacks on Western troops in Afghanistan as well as violence within Pakistan.
Earlier yesterday, a suicide attack and a roadside bomb killed two soldiers and three civilians in the Swat Valley, a one-time tourist destination close to the border region, officials said.
Pakistan has launched military offensives in parts of the northwest, but insurgents are making inroads Swat, blowing up schools, killing police and soldiers and calling for the imposition of a hard-line interpretation of Islamic law.
