7 Pakistanis Killed by US Missile Strikes, 5 Policemen Killed in Ambush, NATO Fuel Tanker Destroyed

US missile strikes kill seven in Pakistan

Wednesday, March 17, 2010

AHasbanullahFP, Khan

US missile strikes killed at least seven alleged Taliban fighters in northwest Pakistan on Wednesday, as attackers armed with rockets and petrol bombs killed five policemen in a pre-dawn ambush.

US drone attacks target Taliban fighters in the nuclear-armed country's northwest tribal belt, where militant networks have carved out havens in lawless mountains outside direct government control.

Two US missile strikes killed seven alleged Taliban fighters in North Waziristan, which is increasingly the focus of the US drone war against Taliban fighters active in nearby Afghanistan.

The first attack struck Hamzoni, a village in North Waziristan, where five missiles slammed into two vehicles at around 7:15 am (0215 GMT), a senior Pakistani security official told AFP.

"Five militants were killed in the missile strike," the official said.

The second attack took place in Myzer Madhakhel, another village in North Waziristan, at around 8:00 am. At least two militants travelling in a pick-up truck were killed, the official said.

The exact identity of the "militants" was unclear and it was not immediately known whether they included any high-value targets, but other security officials confirmed the same death toll.

North Waziristan's prominence in the covert US drone war has grown since a suicide attack killed seven CIA employees in a neighbouring Afghan province last December.

Pakistani Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani said his government was not in a hurry to launch a military offensive against Taliban militants in North Waziristan.

"We have a strategy. We have to hold the areas first and we should not be in a rush," Gilani said in an interview with the Financial Times published on Tuesday.

Under US pressure, Pakistan's military claims to have made big gains against Taliban strongholds over the past year, following major offensives in the northwestern district of Swat and in South Waziristan.

On Tuesday, another drone attack destroyed a mountain hideout in North Waziristan, killing 10 alleged fighters, although no high-profile targets were listed as dead.

On the ground in Afghanistan, Washington is spearheading a build-up of 150,000 foreign troops this year as part of a new counter-insurgency strategy designed to beat back the Taliban and restore Afghan government authority.

Alleged Taliban fighters armed with rockets and petrol bombs ambushed a security checkpoint at Speen Qabar, near the Khyber tribal district, before dawn on Wednesday, killing five policemen.

Dozens of Taliban fighters lobbed rockets at the checkpoint, then opened fire with automatic weapons before throwing petrol bombs, setting it on fire, senior police official Mohammad Karim Khan told AFP.

"Three Frontier Constabulary personnel and two policemen were martyred in the attack and the sixth policeman posted (at the checkpoint) is the lone survivor, but he is also wounded," Khan said.

He blamed the attack on Lashkar-e-Islam, a Pakistani Islamist group with ties to the Taliban that has long stirred up trouble in Khyber.

Elsewhere in Khyber, Taliban fighters stuck a bomb under a tanker carrying fuel for NATO forces in Afghanistan. The vehicle exploded into a huge ball of flames, administration official Shafirullah Wazir said.

"The bomb was fixed to the tail end of the tanker with a magnet and the explosion burnt some 40,000 litres of fuel it was carrying for NATO forces in Afghanistan," Wazir told AFP.

Another Khyber official, who blamed the tanker attack on Lashkar-e-Islam, said there were no casualties.

The bulk of supplies destined for foreign troops across the border in Afghanistan is driven through Khyber, making the region a logistical bottleneck and prime target for Taliban fighters.

Fair Use Notice

This site contains copyrighted material the use of which has not always been specifically authorized by the copyright owner. We are making such material available in our efforts to advance understanding of environmental, political, human rights, economic, democracy, scientific, and social justice issues, etc. We believe this constitutes a 'fair use' of any such copyrighted material as provided for in section 107 of the US Copyright Law. In accordance with Title 17 U.S.C. Section 107, the material on this site is distributed without profit to those who have expressed a prior interest in receiving the included information for research and educational purposes. For more information go to: http://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/17/107.shtml. If you wish to use copyrighted material from this site for purposes of your own that go beyond 'fair use', you must obtain permission from the copyright owner.