At least eight dead in strike on NW Pakistan
Tuesday, 23 December 2008
PESHAWAR, Dec 22 (AFP): Twin suspected US missile strikes Monday on a tribal area in northwest Pakistan known as a hub of Taliban and Al-Qaeda activity killed at least eight militants, officials said.
The strikes were the latest on extremists in the tribal areas bordering Afghanistan -- all said to have been launched by unmanned CIA aircraft -- that have raised tensions between Washington and Islamabad.
Two missiles "fired by US drones" struck the villages of Karikot and Shin Warsak in troubled South Waziristan, a senior security official told AFP on condition of anonymity.
"Two vehicles fitted with guns were destroyed," the official said, adding that the eight people killed were all inside the cars, which were camouflaged with mud and grass.
It was not immediately clear if any senior Taliban or Al-Qaeda operatives were killed in the strikes, which took place just minutes apart, he said.
Local intelligence sources said they believed the militants killed were members of local Pakistani Taliban groups.
The strikes were the latest on extremists in the tribal areas bordering Afghanistan -- all said to have been launched by unmanned CIA aircraft -- that have raised tensions between Washington and Islamabad.
Two missiles "fired by US drones" struck the villages of Karikot and Shin Warsak in troubled South Waziristan, a senior security official told AFP on condition of anonymity.
"Two vehicles fitted with guns were destroyed," the official said, adding that the eight people killed were all inside the cars, which were camouflaged with mud and grass.
It was not immediately clear if any senior Taliban or Al-Qaeda operatives were killed in the strikes, which took place just minutes apart, he said.
Local intelligence sources said they believed the militants killed were members of local Pakistani Taliban groups.