Rocket fired at building ‘housing’ US forces

A rocket was fired at a building in Pakistan’s remote tribal belt, where US special forces hunting remaining Taliban and al Qaida fighters are believed to be staying, a local official said today.

The rocket missed and no-one was hurt.

It was the second time in two weeks that a rocket was fired at the building, a vocational school in Miran Shah, near the Afghan border, where about seven Americans working with Pakistani troops in the semi-autonomous area are believed to be staying.

The official, speaking on condition of anonymity, said two rockets had been hooked up with timers in a wooded area less than a kilometre (half a mile) away and aimed at the school.

The first was fired about 10:25pm yesterday and hit a sports complex between 150 and 200 metres (yards) away from the school, he said, causing little damage.

The second was set to be fired at 2:25am today, but was found and defused by authorities.

Reached by phone in Miran Shah, the official said it was not known who was behind the attack.

‘‘We are trying to find the culprits,’’ he said.

The ‘‘big bang’’ brought locals out of their houses, fearful they were under attack,’’ said one resident, Mujdaba Khan. ‘‘People were worried about what happened.’’

The arrival of US special forces in the frontier region off-limits usually even to the Pakistani army has provoked protests from the fiercely independent tribesmen.

On May 1, a rocket was fired at the same building, where US special forces were sleeping, but struck a building about 300 metres away.

No-one was hurt in that attack, which was the first time US forces have come under fire in the hostile border region since they began operations in recent weeks.

The morning after that attack, area residents found pamphlets from a previously unknown group warning that Muslims faced ‘‘disgrace and trouble’’ unless they ‘‘stand up against the army of Jews and Christians,’’ and said the murder of Pakistani troops and officials assisting the Americans was also justified.’’

There have been several demonstrations by tribesmen threatening violence if the US special forces do not leave the area. The Pakistan government says the Americans are providing only communications and intelligence assistance, but tribesmen say they have seen American soldiers with Pakistani troops on raids of religious schools in the area.

So far, no arrests have been announced.