Pakistan officials: Suspected US missiles kill 3

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Pakistan officials: Suspected US missiles kill 3

By RASOOL DAWAR (AP) – 56 minutes ago

MIR ALI, Pakistan — Suspected U.S. missiles struck a militant compound in

northwestern Pakistan on Sunday, killing at least three people in an area

teeming with Taliban and al-Qaida fighters who often launch attacks against NATO

troops in Afghanistan, said Pakistani officials.

It was the second strike in as many days in North Waziristan, a mountainous area

along the Afghan border where unmanned aircraft operated by the CIA have

launched dozens of attacks. The U.S. has urged the Pakistani military to target

the area, but has faced resistance.

The compound struck by two U.S. missiles Sunday was located in the village of

Tabbi Tolkhel, a little over a mile (two kilometers) northeast of Miran Shah,

the main town in North Waziristan, said Noor Ahmed, the deputy political leader

in the area.

There were conflicting reports about how many people were killed in the attack.

Ahmed said that tribesmen have recovered five bodies from the rubble. He did not

know their identities.

Two Pakistani intelligence officials said three militants were killed and five

others were wounded. They spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not

authorized to talk to the media.

The Pakistani military has resisted launching an offensive in North Waziristan,

saying its forces are stretched thin from other operations along the Afghan

border. Many analysts suspect its resistance is also driven by its desire to

preserve historic ties with Taliban militants in the area who could be useful

allies in Afghanistan after foreign troops withdraw.

Given Pakistan's reluctance, the U.S. has relied on missile strikes to target

militants in Pakistan's tribal areas but refuses to publicly acknowledge the

existence of the covert program.

But on Sunday, CIA Director Leon Panetta said such efforts are responsible for

reducing al-Qaida to its weakest since the Sept. 11 attacks.

" We are engaged in the most aggressive operations in the history of the CIA in

that part of the world, and the result is that we are disrupting their

leadership, " Panetta told ABC's " This Week. "

He rejected criticism that the strike program violates international law as

" dead wrong. "

Pakistan publicly protests the strikes as violations of its sovereignty, but is

believed to have assisted in at least some of the attacks.

On Saturday, a suspected U.S. missile strike flattened a house near North

Waziristan's town of Mir Ali, killing two alleged militants, according to

intelligence officials.

Associated Press writers Hussain Afzal in Parachinar and Anne Flagerty in

Washington contributed to this report.

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