U.S. airstrike killed 5 in Pakistan: officials
Last Updated: Friday, October 3, 2008 | 2:02 PM ET
Reuters CBC News
A missile fired by a U.S. drone aircraft killed at least five people in a Pakistani tribesman's house in North Waziristan on Friday, Pakistani intelligence officials said.
The officials said the missile struck around 9:30 p.m. in the village of Mohammad Khel. The village is about 30 km west of Miranshah, the main town in North Waziristan, which is known as a hotbed of Taliban and al-Qaeda support.
While Pakistani military spokesman Maj.-Gen. Athar Abbas said he had no information on the strike, other intelligence sources gave specific details, naming the tribesman whose house was hit.
"One missile hit the house of Daud Jan," said one of the officials, speaking on condition of anonymity.
Frustrated by an intensifying Taliban insurgency in Afghanistan, U.S. forces have in the past month carried out eight missile strikes by pilotless drones and a commando raid on the Pakistani side of the border.
The U.S. strikes in Pakistan, in particular the Sept. 3 raid by ground troops, have angered Islamabad, straining ties between the allies and leading to tension along the border, which Pakistani forces have vowed to defend.
2 women, 1 child killed in earlier strike
Earlier Friday, Pakistani intelligence officials in the region told Reuters a U.S. warplane bombed two houses in Datta Khel, a village 60 km west of Miranshah, closer to the Afghan border.
"A jet fighter bombed two houses in different parts of Datta Khel. Two women and one child were killed," said one of the officials.
He said five men were also wounded in the attack, which took place at about 5.30 a.m. Drone aircraft were seen circling the village after the attack, officials said.
Abbas contradicted that account, saying the airstrike was carried out by the NATO-led International Security Assistance Force on a target across the border in Afghanistan.
"ISAF informed us at around 4 p.m. that they were conducting an operation in Afghanistan, across from North Waziristan," Abbas said. "There was no violation, no incursion or intrusion on our side."
The attacks Friday come two days after a suspected U.S. pilotless drone fired two missiles at a house in northwestern Pakistan, killing five people.
The government says the strikes are an infringement of Pakistani sovereignty and undermine long-term efforts to bring militancy in the region under control.
U.S. commanders have said they respect Pakistan's sovereignty but have suggested they will not stop cross-border strikes on militants.
The Pakistani army, meanwhile, is fighting fierce battles against militants in Bajaur, at the northeastern extreme of the tribal belt, and Swat, an alpine valley in a more settled region close to the tribal lands.
With files from ReutersShare Tools
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