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| India-Pakistan |
| Missile strike on militant hideout in SWA kills 10 |
| 2008-02-28 |
| At least 10 suspected militants were killed in a missile strike on a house in South Waziristan early on Thursday, residents and officials said. The dead were believed to be of Pakistani and foreign origins, they said. The attack happened at about 2am in Kaloosha Village, 10 kilometres west of Wana, headquarters of South Waziristan Agency. “Nine militants were killed instantly while a wounded Punjabi militant passed away hours later in a local hospital,” the residents said. Security officials also put the toll at 10. However, local news agencies reported that 13 people were killed in the attack and several others injured. It is the second such attack in the area after militant commander Nek Muhammad was killed in a missile attack in June 2004. Resident Sharifullah said three missiles hit the house of Afghan national Sheroo. Sheroo hailed from Zalikhel tribe, which was notorious for harbouring foreign and local militants, the residents added. Afghans, Punjabis: They said the dead included Afghans and Punjabis whereas security officials pointed out the presence of Arab militants in the house. “There was no immediate information about the presence of any high-value target,” an official told AFP. Armed militants cordoned off the site after the missile strike, the residents said, adding that four unidentified ‘guests’ had arrived late on Wednesday at the destroyed house, although their identities were not known. The residents told Daily Times that local Taliban chief Maulvi Nazir did not visit the site of the attack or attended the dead militants’ funeral prayers. Later, the residents buried the militants. Punjabi militants helped Maulvi Nazir in ousting foreign militants, especially the Uzbeks, from the area last year. Blast: Army spokesman Major General Athar Abbas told AFP that the deaths were caused by explosive material stored in the house, adding that 10 to 12 people were killed in the blast. “As per our information it was an explosion caused by explosive material in the house.” All of their nationalities were not known, he said. However, a security source, based in Peshawar, which adjoins the lawless tribal belt, said on the condition of anonymity that the missile was fired by a US drone at about 2am on Thursday. A spokesman for the United States-led coalition force based in Afghanistan said it had “no reports” that either it or the separate North Atlantic Treaty Organisation-headed force were involved in the strike. US drones have launched several strikes on the Pakistan-Afghanistan border targeting members of Osama Bin Laden’s network, although Islamabad never confirms such attacks due to issues of national sovereignty. The attack comes a month after Osama Bin Laden’s operational number three, Abu Laith al-Libi, was killed in a missile strike in the neighbouring Tribal Area of North Waziristan. Thousands of Al Qaeda and Taliban militants fled into Pakistan’s tribal belt after the US-led invasion of Afghanistan in the wake of the September 11, 2001, attacks on the World Trade Centre and the Pentagon. |
| Posted by:tipper |
| #4 "foreigners" = simple, but well-armed Arab undocumented immigrants, there to do the jobs Pashtuns won't do |
| Posted by: Frank G 2008-02-28 20:31 |
| #3 waiting to hear who the hvt's were yip yip yip yahoo |
| Posted by: legolas 2008-02-28 20:25 |
| #2 Wonder who they got? |
| Posted by: tu3031 2008-02-28 20:05 |
| #1 It's a start.... |
| Posted by: Barbara Skolaut 2008-02-28 19:28 |