A SUSPECTED US missile strike on a house in a Pakistani tribal area bordering Afghanistan killed nine people, including six Arab militants, today, security officials said.Two missiles hit the building in Tati, a village in troubled North Waziristan district, an official based in the region said on condition of anonymity. The attack targeted the house of a local Taliban commander named Hafiz Sahar Gul, another security official based in Islamabad said.
"The missile attack killed three of Gul's family members and six Arab guests," the official said, adding the Arabs were believed to be militants.
There was no immediate confirmation from the Pakistani military or from the US-led coalition in Afghanistan.
The incident in the lawless district, a known haunt of Taliban and Al-Qaeda militants, is the latest in a string of attacks on Pakistani soil that have raised tensions between Islamabad and Washington. Last week around 20 al-Qaeda-linked militants, mostly foreign nationals, were killed in a suspected US missile strike in Mohammad Khel village in North Waziristan, Pakistani security officials said.
The United States has stepped up attacks on militants in Pakistani territory since a new civilian government came to power in Islamabad in March, and the incidents have become an issue in the US presidential election. Relations have also been strained by a raid by US special operations forces into Pakistan on September 3 which killed several Pakistanis.