US drone attack kills 15 in Pakistan

Jul 3, 2009, 6:36 GMT

   Islamabad - A suspected US drone aircraft fired three missiles at a militant hideout in Pakistan's restive tribal district of South Waziristan on the Afghan border on Friday, killing at least 15 people, an intelligence official said.

   The missiles reportedly hit the house of a Taliban sympathizer in Kokat Khel village of the district's Ladha area at around 10:45 am (0445 GMT), demolishing the structure.

   'According to our information, 15 people have been killed and 33 others are injured,' said a local intelligence official who spoke on condition of anonymity.

   He said local Taliban as well as foreigners - a term locally used for al-Qaeda militants of Arab origin - were among the dead and injured.

   'We are trying to find out if there is any important figure among the dead,' the official added.

   Taliban fighters sealed off the area following the blasts as they tried to pull out people buried under the rubble.

   The Ladha area is a stronghold of warlord Baitullah Mehsud against whom Pakistani troops are preparing an offensive.

   Mehsud is believed to be responsible for a series of suicide attacks on security forces as well as civilian targets across the country which have killed thousands of people over the last two years.

   He also has a five-million-dollar US bounty on his head as an al-Qaeda facilitator.