US drone strike, Pakistani troops kill 21 militants districts (Roundup)

Nov 20, 2009, 11:49 GMT

Islamabad - A suspected US missile strike in Pakistan's north-western tribal region on Friday killed at least eight militants, while 13 more died in clashes with Pakistani troops, officials said.

The US airstrike took place in the Machikhel area, situated near the region's main town of Mir Ali, in the North Waziristan tribal district.

'We are receiving reports of at least two explosions which left eight militants dead,' an intelligence official said on condition of anonymity.

The local administration in North Waziristan, a known hotbed of Taliban and al-Qaeda members, confirmed the attack, but did not give details about casualties or the target.

The attack mirrors a similar air raid just after midnight on Wednesday, which killed four insurgents in the same district. North Waziristan adjoins the troubled South Waziristan region, a mountainous area where Pakistani troops are battling with thousands of Taliban fighters.

Separately, a military statement on Friday said that Taliban fighters used small arms to attack security forces in the Asman Manza and Ladha areas of South Waziristan. During the encounter 'five terrorists were killed while one soldier got injured,' the statement read.

With the latest killing, the military-reported death toll of the Taliban rose to 560 on Thursday. The army has suffered around 70 casualties since beginning their push on October 17. The figures could not be verified independently.

Islamist militants have stepped up attacks in towns and cities to retaliate against the South Waziristan offensive, which started in mid-October.

The militants' main target remains Peshawar, the capital of Pakistan's North-West Frontier Province, which is close to the tribal areas.

Early on Friday, a remote-controlled bomb hit a police vehicle on patrol in the city's Yakka Toot neighbourhood, killing three officers and wounding six more, area police chief Abdul Qadir said.

The bombing occurred hours after a suicide bomber on foot detonated his explosives at the gates of a court complex in Peshawar, killing at least 19 people.

Three policemen who intercepted the attacker on Thursday morning were among the dead.

Meanwhile, eight militants died in a security action in Khyber tribal district that adjoins Peshawar. Most of the terrorist strikes in the town are believed to be planned there.

Several other militants were injured in the action that took place in Gandaho area of the Khyber district, said a spokesman of the paramilitary Frontier Corps, Fazal-ur-Rehman.

In another incident, one soldier died and two were injured in a roadside bombing in Qamar area, he added.

Media reports said on Friday that 16 members of a family were killed when a bomb dropped from a jet fighter demolished their mud house.

Citing the locals, English-language daily The News reported that the incident took place in Orakzai, another tribal district where air force jets and military helicopter gunships have carried out dozens of raids on Taliban hideouts.

Urdu-language Mashriq newspaper said that 11 children, two women and two men were among the killed.

Orakzai is emerging as the new militant headquarters, where hundreds of Taliban fighters fleeing the South Waziristan operation have taken shelter with their local comrades.