Suspected US missile kills 12
in Pakistan: official
38 people, including women and children, killed in
the past week
Agence France-Presse, September 12, 2008
go to original
See Article I.4
Promoting Illegal War
| |
Unmanned American predator drone
carrying a hellfire missile.
source: AFP
|
MIRANSHAH, Pakistan (AFP) — A missile from
a suspected US drone killed 12 people Friday in a
Pakistani tribal area where US forces have been aggressively
targeting Al-Qaeda militants -- fuelling anger from
Washington's key "war on terror" ally.
The missile hit a house on the outskirts of Miranshah,
the main town in North Waziristan, a local official
said, in the fourth such strike in a week aimed at
Taliban or Al-Qaeda fighters hiding out in the rugged
tribal area.
"The pre-dawn strike destroyed the house and
12 people were killed," the official told AFP,
adding that another 14 people were wounded.
The 12 were believed to be rebel fighters, locals
said, adding that the house hit in the Tol Khel area
had been rented by an Afghan militant organisation,
Al Badar, and was being used as an office.
Al Badar, backed by former guerrilla leader Gulbuddin
Hekmatyar, has previously conducted operations against
Afghan and international forces based across the border
in Afghanistan, residents and a security official
said.
Hekmatyar was briefly prime minister of Afghanistan
in the 1990s after the end of its Soviet occupation.
He has backed the Taliban since the regime was removed
from power following the US-led invasion of the country
in 2001, after the September 11 attacks in the United
States, and has demanded the withdrawal of foreign
forces.
Missile strikes targeting militants in Pakistan in
recent weeks have been blamed on US-led coalition
forces or CIA drones based in Afghanistan. Pakistan
does not have missile-equipped drones.
Thirty-eight people, including women and children,
have been killed in the past week's missile attacks.
Pakistan and the United States have been drawn into
a row over the strikes, with Pakistan army chief General
Ashfaq Kayani this week strongly criticising them
and insisting no deal existed to allow foreign troops
to conduct them.
As well as missile strikes, Pakistan last week for
the first time accused Afghanistan-based troops of
carrying out a direct attack on its territory, a raid
in the South Waziristan tribal zone that left 15 people
dead.
The Pakistani army reiterated its position Friday,
with an official statement, quoting Kayani, pledging
to safeguard the country's "territorial integrity."
US and Afghan officials say Pakistan's tribal areas
are a safe haven for Al-Qaeda and Taliban militants
who sneaked into the rugged region after the fall
of the Taliban regime in late 2001.
Al-Qaeda chief Osama bin Laden and his deputy, Ayman
al-Zawahiri, are widely believed to be hiding in the
mountainous region.
A separate strike in North Waziristan on Monday targeted
but failed to hit top Taliban commander Jalaluddin
Haqqani, but did kill four mid-level Al-Qaeda operatives,
a security official and a militant source said.
With tens of thousands of US and other international
troops locked down in Afghanistan, US Joint Chiefs
of Staff chairman Admiral Michael Mullen said Wednesday
he had ordered a new strategy covering both sides
of the border with Pakistan.
The New York Times also reported that US President
George W. Bush in July secretly approved orders enabling
Special Operations forces to conduct ground operations
in Pakistan without Islamabad's prior approval.
In other unrest, meanwhile, Pakistani troops bombed
Taliban positions for the second day running in a
tribal town near the Afghan border, killing up to
23 militants, officials said.
Up to 100 Islamic fighters were killed in bombing
on Thursday in different areas of Bajaur district,
a hotbed of Al-Qaeda and Taliban militants.
