Missile attack at militant hideout kills 30

Uzbeks, Chechens and Arabs were among about 30 militants killed in a missile attack on a suspected al-Qaida hideout in north-west Pakistan near the Afghan border, officials said today.

Several more militants were wounded when three missiles allegedly fired from Afghanistan destroyed an Islamic seminary in the border village of Mami Rogha, 25 miles west of Miran Shah, the main town in North Waziristan, two intelligence officials said.

Pakistan army spokesman Maj Gen Waheed Arshad yesterday said the explosions were caused when bombs the militants were making at an isolated compound exploded accidentally.

He said between 20 to 25 militants died in the blasts. But Wali Khan, a cleric who lives near Mami Rogha, said 34 people died in the attack.

He gave no details about the dead men, saying only that “we don’t agree with the government that they were terrorists.”

The two intelligence officials put the toll at about 30, saying the men included Chechens, Uzbeks, Turkmen, Arabs, local militants and some Afghans.