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'Deadly air strike' in Pakistan | 'Deadly air strike' in Pakistan |
(about 5 hours later) | |
A suspected US missile strike in north-west Pakistan, the second drone attack in four days, has killed 13 people. | |
Local officials in North Waziristan, near the Afghan border, said the dead included women and children as well as militants - some of them foreigners. | |
But a Taleban spokesman denied this, saying all those killed were civilians. | |
The US military does not routinely confirm drone attacks, but US forces in Afghanistan are believed to be the only ones in the region with the capability. | |
Pakistan is critical of drone use because, it says, civilians are often killed, fuelling support for militants. | Pakistan is critical of drone use because, it says, civilians are often killed, fuelling support for militants. |
Retaliation threatened | |
Local administration officials say the missiles destroyed part of a house owned by a school teacher in a village near the region's main town of Miranshah. | |
A number of foreign militants were among those killed in the strike at 0300 local (2200 Friday), security officials said. | |
But a Taleban spokesman said all the dead were civilians. | |
Dozens of suspected drone strikes have killed hundreds in recent months | |
The spokesman said the Taleban held Pakistan responsible for the strike, adding that it should be ready for retaliation. | |
The latest incident comes only three days after a missile fired by a suspected US drone killed at least 14 people in Pakistan's Orakzai tribal area, near the Afghan border. | The latest incident comes only three days after a missile fired by a suspected US drone killed at least 14 people in Pakistan's Orakzai tribal area, near the Afghan border. |
Correspondents say that more than 35 suspected drone strikes have killed more than 340 people since August 2008, shortly before the election of President Asif Ali Zardari. | Correspondents say that more than 35 suspected drone strikes have killed more than 340 people since August 2008, shortly before the election of President Asif Ali Zardari. |
US President Barack Obama has pledged to make the war against the Taleban and al-Qaeda in Pakistan and Afghanistan a foreign policy priority. | US President Barack Obama has pledged to make the war against the Taleban and al-Qaeda in Pakistan and Afghanistan a foreign policy priority. |
Most missile strikes by drones have targeted foreign fighters in the Waziristan region over the past couple of years. | Most missile strikes by drones have targeted foreign fighters in the Waziristan region over the past couple of years. |
The drone attacks are said to be part of a new US strategy to eliminate the Taleban and al-Qaeda leadership who are reportedly operating from Pakistan's tribal region next to the border with Afghanistan, says the BBC's Shoaib Hasan in Islamabad. |