Suspected US drone missile strike kills 3 in Pakistan’s volatile NW, say intel officials
By Rasool Dawar, APWednesday, January 6, 2010
Officials: Suspected US strike kills 3 in Pakistan
PESHAWAR, Pakistan — A suspected American missile strike killed three people in northwest Pakistan on Saturday, two intelligence officials said, the latest in an unprecedented surge of such assaults on alleged militant hideouts near the Afghan border.
The strike comes amid tensions between Islamabad and Washington after NATO forces twice crossed into Pakistan, once killing three Pakistani soldiers, and prompted Islamabad to block a vital supply route for Western troops. The missile strike indicates the U.S. is not willing to stop using a tactic it considers highly successful in targeting al-Qaida and Taliban militants despite the tensions.
Some people were also wounded when four missiles struck a house in the Datta Khel village of North Waziristan tribal region, the officials said on condition of anonymity as they were not authorized to talk on record to the media.
It was not immediately clear who the dead and wounded people were, but Datta Khel has been the scene of several such attacks on Taliban, al-Qaida and their local supporters who are accused of targeting NATO and U.S. forces across the Afghan border.
