US missile strike kills five in Pakistan: officials

Tuesday, January 19, 2010, 03:38 pm

  AFP, Hasbanullah Khan

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

Pakistan's tribal belt runs along the Afghan border.

"Two missiles fired by a US drone hit a compound which was being used by" (alleged Pakistani Taliban), said a senior security official in the area.

Five people "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 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, 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 President Barack Obama puts Pakistan at the heart of his administration's fight (in Afghanistan and Pakistan).

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 (fighters) 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.

Provincial lawmaker injured in bomb attack in Pakistan

ISLAMABAD, Jan. 20, 2010 (Xinhua) --

A ruling party member of provincial assembly was injured in a bomb blast in the northwestern Pakistani city of Peshawar on Wednesday, police said.

Aurangzeb Khan, member in the North West Frontier Province, was taken to hospital after the attack on his car on Ring Road area in the provincial capital, police said.

Three other people including Khan's driver and his guard were also injured in the remote-controlled blast near his house.

It is second attack on Aurangzeb Khan in a month. He escaped unhurt in the previous roadside bomb attack near his house in Peshawar earlier this month.

Khan's brother was also killed in such a bomb attack in 2009.

Hospital sources said that Aurangzeb Khan is in stable condition but one of his guards in critical condition. They said that he received injuries on face.

No group claimed responsibility for the attack but Taliban militants are blamed for such attacks. 

Editor: Fang Yang