US pilotless aircraft on Friday fired around
a half dozen missiles at two militant hideouts, killing at least six suspected
al-Qaeda members and 11 local militants in Pakistan's tribal region bordering
Afghanistan, intelligence officials said, dpa
reported.
The attacks were the first since US President Barack Obama took office Tuesday,
and were a sign he has no intention of backing off the airstrikes begun under
the Bush administration to deny the militants refuge in Pakistan.
Three Hellfire missiles targeted a house in the Zirki area of Mir Ali in the
tribal district of South Waziristan, a known sanctuary for Taliban and al-Qaeda
fighters launching cross-border attacks on international forces in Afghanistan.
"Four foreigners and five local Taliban militants have been confirmed
dead, while some people are injured," said the intelligence official, who
spoke on condition of anonymity.
"Taliban have cordoned off the area and they are trying to pull out more
injured or bodies, if there are some, from the rubble," he added.
Separately, two missiles were fired at at a house by suspected US drones in the Gangi Khel area of Wana, the main town in South Waziristan.
"Eight bodies have been recovered from the demolished building, while some
people, including women and children, are still believed to be trapped under
the rubble," said another intelligence official. He feared the death toll
might rise.
"According to the information we have received from the locals, two of
those killed are foreigners of Arab origin," he added.
US forces have carried out dozens of drone attacks on suspected positions of
Taliban and al-Qaeda militants late last year, which also saw the first
documented ground operation by American troops inside Pakistan. The CIA is believed to operate Predator drones in the area, but the White House
would not comment on the strikes.
"I'm not going to get into these matters," spokesman Robert Gibbs
told reporters in Washington.
Though the strikes have eliminated several al-Qaeda operatives, the Pakistani
government has condemned them, saying they violate Pakistan's sovereignty and
complicate its efforts against terrorism by fuelling public anger.
Pakistani authorities had hoped that a review of the conflict in Afghanistan by the Obama administration would result in an end to the airstrikes.
"It's too early to reach conclusions. Obama took over just two days ago
and he cannot change the years-old policy just in that short time," said Pakistan's former interior minister and a retired general, Hamid Nawaz.
"But even if he is unable to bring about any change, we should stick to
our national interests and do what is in our own interests," he added.
The Pakistani government is under public pressure to abandon cooperation in the
US-led international fight against terrorism if drone attacks are not halted
within its borders.
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