A mid-level al-Qaeda leader, identified as an Iraqi, was among up to 20 people killed on Friday in a suspected missile strike by U.S. spy drones in northwest Pakistan, a Pakistani intelligence official said. The intelligence official identified the al-Qaeda leader as Abu Akash and said he was believed to have been Iraqi. "He is a mid-level al-Qaeda man who was leading a high-profile life in Mir Wali," said the official, who declined to be identified, referring to the second biggest town in the North Waziristan region on the Afghan border. Local residents said the strike hit the house of a Pakistani tribesman named Amanullah Dawar.
Two missiles were involved in the strike, which destroyed a vehicle and a house in North Waziristan tribal region that is a known hub of al-Qaeda and Taliban militants on the area bordering Afghanistan.
The attack came just two days after Pakistan, a key ally in the U.S.-led "war on terrorism", summoned Washington's ambassador to Islamabad to receive a strong protest over a number of similar strikes.
Sunday's strike killed senior Taliban commander Haji Omar Khan, a lieutenant of veteran Afghan Taliban chieftain and former anti-Soviet fighter Jalaluddin Haqqani. It was the 17th such strike in the past 10 weeks, according to an AFP tally. All of them have been blamed on U.S.-led coalition forces or CIA drones based in neighboring Afghanistan.
The attacks have sharply raised tensions between Washington and nuclear-armed Pakistan. Pakistani President Asif Ali Zardari has promised zero tolerance against violations of his country's sovereignty. The attacks have also become an election issue in the U.S. presidential campaign.