U.S. missiles kill 9 militants in Pakistan

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http://www.reuters.com/article/featuredCrisis/idUSL16174238

U.S. missiles kill 9 militants in Pakistan

Sun Mar 16, 2008 11:34am EDT

(Revises casualties based on intelligence source in the area)

By Hafiz Wazir

WANA, Pakistan, March 16 (Reuters) - A U.S. warplane fired missiles

on Sunday at a house in a Pakistani region known as a haven for al

Qaeda and Taliban fighters, killing at least 9 militants and

wounding nine, an intelligence official said.

Four missiles were fired at the house in Shahnawaz Kheil Dhoog, a

village near the town of Wana in the South Waziristan region on the

Afghan border, just after 3 p.m. (1000 GMT), the intelligence

official said.

" It was apparently an American plane that fired precision guided

missiles at the house, " the official, who requested not to be

identified, told Reuters.

Three foreigners, an Arab and two Turkmen, were among those killed,

according to the intelligence official.

Villagers put the death toll at 18.

" Except the boundary walls, the house has been destroyed, " said a

senior district government official who declined to be identified.

" The place has been used for some time as a militant hideout, " he

said.

The attack came a day after a Turkish woman was killed and five

Americans were among 11 people wounded in a bomb attack at a

restaurant popular with foreigners in the capital, Islamabad.

A spokesman for Pakistani Taliban militants claimed responsibility

for the Islamabad bomb, the latest in a surge of attacks that began

in July after troops stormed a radical mosque complex in Islamabad.

Hundreds of people, including former Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto,

have been killed in bomb attacks since then, raising fears for

stability in the nuclear-armed U.S. ally.

U.S. forces have used pilotless drone aircraft to fire missiles at

militants on the Pakistani side of the border several times in

recent years.

The intelligence official said Sunday's attack was not carried out

by a drone, although villagers believed they recognised the engine

noise.

A missile believed fired by a U.S. drone killed 13 suspected

militants in South Waziristan in late February. On Jan. 28, one of

Osama bin Laden's top lieutenants, Abu Laith al-Libi, was killed in

a strike in North Waziristan.

NOT A PAKISTANI ATTACK

Pakistani military spokesman Major General Athar Abbas said there

were reports of blasts and some casualties in the area and the

military was checking.

He said Pakistani forces had not conducted any operation in the

area and he did not know who carried out the strike or what type of

weapon was used.

Neither U.S. nor Pakistani authorities officially confirm U.S.

missile attacks on Pakistani territory, which would be an

infringement of Pakistani sovereignty.

There is widespread public opposition in Pakistan to the U.S.-led

campaign against al Qaeda and the Taliban. Pakistan says it would

not allow foreign military operations on its soil.

Many al Qaeda members, including Uzbeks and Arabs, and Taliban

militants took refuge in North and South Waziristan, as well as in

other areas on the Pakistani side of the border after U.S.-led

forces ousted the Taliban in Afghanistan in 2001.

From sanctuaries in the lawless border belt, the Taliban have

orchestrated their insurgency against the Afghan government and the

U.S. and NATO forces supporting it.

Increasingly, so-called Pakistani Taliban have been mounting

attacks in Pakistani towns and cities, many aimed at security forces

and other government targets.

Maulvi , a spokesman for an umbrella organisation of Pakistani

militant groups, said the Pakistani Taliban were responsible for the

blast in Islamabad on Saturday and twin blasts in the city of Lahore

on Tuesday that killed 24 people.

" These attacks were a reaction to operations being carried out by

the military against our people. We will continue this if they don't

stop killing our people, " said by telephone. (Additional

reporting by Kamran Haider, Alamgir Bitani; Editing by Birsel

and Dick)