Pakistan Missile Strikes Kill 14

VOA News
14 September 2010

Pakistani intelligence officials say two U.S. missile strikes have killed at least 14 militants in the country's northwestern tribal region near the Afghan border.

In the first attack Tuesday, officials say at least 10 militants were killed when a series of missiles fired from a drone aircraft struck a compound in the Shawal district of North Waziristan.

Later, a second strike targeted a vehicle near the tribal region's main town of Miranshah, leaving four militants dead.

So far this month, there have been 11 missile strikes by suspected U.S. drones in the region.

The area is considered a stronghold for Taliban and al-Qaida-linked militants accused of planning and staging cross-border attacks against NATO troops in neighboring Afghanistan.

North Waziristan is known as Pakistan's most treacherous tribal region. The rough terrain and inadequate equipment prevents Pakistani troops from launching their own attacks against militants in the area.

The U.S. has carried out at least 100 missile attacks on militants in Pakistan's seven tribal regions since 2008. More than 1,000 people have been killed. Officials have not released the number of civilian casualties in those attacks.

Pakistani officials publicly condemn the strikes, saying they violate the country's territorial sovereignty and fuel militant attacks against foreign troops in Afghanistan.

Some information for this report was provided by AFP and Reuters.