[Dawn] A suspected US missile strike killed at least five people in the Khyber tribal region of northwest Pakistan on Saturday, it what would be one of the first such attacks in the area, intelligence and government officials said.
US missiles have regularly pounding al-Qaida and Taliban targets along the Afghan border for two years now.
The attacks have killed scores of people, most of them identified as militants by Pakistani officials. But they have caused anger in Pakistan, where many people see them as an unacceptable violation of the country's sovereignty.
The suspected strike in Khyber could fan fresh anger because it represented a widening of the covert program.
Officials gave differing death tolls in the strike, which one said involved two missiles hitting a house and two trucks loaded with militants. The death toll ranged from 5 to 15. Such discrepancies are common and are rarely reconciled.
The officials spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to speak to the media. |