Suspected US missile strike kills 5: Pakistan

Two unmanned drones were seen above the town of Miran Shah in the North Waziristan tribal region minutes before missiles hit a house, intelligence officials say.

DERA ISMAIL KHAN // The latest in a barrage of suspected US missile strikes in Pakistan's north-west killed five people, but none were believed to be foreign al Qa'eda fighters, officials said today. Two unmanned drones were seen above the town of Miran Shah in the North Waziristan tribal region minutes before missiles hit a house near a matchbox factory yesterday, two intelligence officials said.

The officials spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to speak to the media. They said reports from local informants so far said none of the dead were foreigners. Army spokesmen could not immediately be reached for comment. Also today, the government official Jamil Khan said security forces waging an offensive in the Bajur tribal region killed at least 14 more suspected militants. Al Qa'eda and the Taliban have established bases in Pakistan's tribal regions, where they are said to plan attacks on US and Nato forces across the border in Afghanistan.

Under US pressure, Pakistan has carried out military offensives against insurgents while also trying to woo various tribes to turn against extremists. But the US has recently signalled its impatience with Pakistani efforts by apparently staging several cross-border assaults. The latest strike brings to 12 the number of missile attacks believed carried out by the US since mid-August. More than 100 people, most of them alleged militants, have been killed, according to figures provided by Pakistani intelligence officials. The United States rarely confirms or denies the attacks.

Pakistani leaders routinely criticise the strikes as violations of sovereignty, but those protests have had little tangible effect on the two nations' anti-terror alliance. Mr Khan said that helicopter gunships shelled militants' bunkers overnight in the Charmang area of Bajur. Insurgents there were fighting a local tribal militia formed to rid the area of militants. Two local tribesmen also were killed, Khan said.

* AP