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'US strike' on Pakistan militants | 'US strike' on Pakistan militants |
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A suspected US missile strike in north-west Pakistan has killed at least eight people, Pakistani officials say. | A suspected US missile strike in north-west Pakistan has killed at least eight people, Pakistani officials say. |
The attack by a US drone targeted al-Qaeda-linked militants in the tribal region of North Waziristan, close to the Afghan border, they said. | The attack by a US drone targeted al-Qaeda-linked militants in the tribal region of North Waziristan, close to the Afghan border, they said. |
One official told the AFP news agency that "several missiles struck a suspected al-Qaeda hide-out in North Waziristan". | One official told the AFP news agency that "several missiles struck a suspected al-Qaeda hide-out in North Waziristan". |
Some reports said 10 had been killed. The US has not confirmed the attack. | Some reports said 10 had been killed. The US has not confirmed the attack. |
The attack was in a remote village in the area of Razmak. Details are sketchy, but locals say a house of a local tribesman was hit. | |
Sovereignty issue | |
North Waziristan is a haven for Taleban and al-Qaeda fighters who enter Afghanistan to fight US and Nato forces. | |
There are believed to have been 18 strikes by CIA-operated predator drones in Pakistan's tribal border areas since August. | |
The US says it acts only when it has clear intelligence on the whereabouts of a known militant and that its targeting of al-Qaeda leaders is helping prevent terrorist attacks on the west. | |
But Pakistanis complain that civilians are often killed and that the attacks are a violation of their sovereignty. | |
Earlier this week Pakistan President Asif Ali Zardari warned the new head of US Central Command, Gen David Petreaus, that missile attacks on Pakistani territory were counter-productive. | |
Mr Zardari said such strikes were detrimental to America's war on terror. | |
He said they make it harder for the Pakistani authorities to persuade the Pashtun tribes living along the Afghan frontier to join them in the fight against the extremists. |