Suspected US strike kills up to 20 in Pakistan

PAKISTAN: A suspected U.S. missile strike on the house of a Taliban commander near the Afghan border killed up to 20 people Monday, Pakistani intelligence officials said.

The reported strike occurred in the South Waziristan region, part of Pakistan’s wild border zone that is considered a possible hiding place for Osama bin Laden and al-Qaida No. 2 Ayman al-Zawahri.

Two intelligence officials, speaking on condition of anonymity because they are not authorized to speak to media on the record,said the targeted house in Mandata Raghzai village belonged to a lieutenant of local Taliban chief Maulvi Nazir.

The officials, citing reports from agents and informers in the area, said militants cordoned off the scene and the identity of the 20 bodies pulled from the rubble was not immediately clear. Missile strikes into Pakistan’s border region have escalated

sharply amid complaints from American commanders that Pakistani forces are not putting enough pressure on militant strongholds on their territory.

U.S. military and CIA drones that patrol the frontier region are believed to have carried out at least a dozen strikes since August.The United States rarely confirms or denies involvement.

The tactic has killed at least two senior al-Qaida operatives in Pakistan this year.

However, it has also put strain on the country’sseven-year alliance with the U.S. in its war on terror, especially since

stalwart U.S. ally Pervez Musharraf stepped down as army chief and president.

Pakistani new leaders have protested the missile strikes - as well as a highly unusual raid by helicopter-borne commandos in September - as unacceptable violations of their sovereignty.

The attacks only fuel the militancy destabilizing Pakistan and undermining the nuclear-armed nation’s alreadyfalteringeconomy,they argue.In the latest incident, a suicide bomberrammed an explosive-laden car into a security post in the Mohmand border region late Sunday, injuring five police officers and three troops, said Said Ahmed Jan, a local government official.

Dera Ismail Khan, Monday, AP