(AKI) - Suspected United States drones fired four missiles on Wednesday in a northwestern Pakistani tribal area near the Afghan border killing seven people and injuring at least six, according to officials. "Four missiles were fired by suspected U.S. drones in the area of Baghar Cheena village in the restive South Waziristan on Wednesday evening," said a senior security official, quoted by Pakistan's Geo News TV channel. The missiles were reported to have struck a militant training camp and a house occupied by militants. "There are a few militant training camps in the area and no civilian population around the site of strikes," another official said, cited by Geo News.
The attack was at least the fifth such strike inside Pakistan this month and came came hours after U.S. military chief Admiral Michael Mullen reiterated Washington's respect for the sovereignty of Pakistan. Mullen, who flew to Islamabad on an unannounced trip late onTuesday, met Pakistan's army chief General Ashfaq Parvez Kayani and Prime Minister Syed Yousuf Raza Gilani in a bid to calm anger over US raids on tribal areas bordering Afghanistan in so-called hot pursuit of militants.
The attack may be an indication that the Americans have told Pakistan there will be no more ground assaults, but that drone attacks are to continue. According to senior American officials, U.S. President George W. Bush secretly approved orders in July that for the first time allowed American Special Operations forces to carry out ground assaults inside Pakistan without the prior approval of the Pakistani government.