US launch strike on Taliban leader's base

A remote control flying US drone today attacked a hide-out connected to the Taliban leader who threatened to attack Washington, killing 12 people.

The missile attack came a day after Pakistani Baitullah Mehsud claimed responsibility for the raid on a police academy in the eastern city of Lahore, saying it was retaliation for US missile strikes on militant strongholds along the Afghan border.

Mehsud also vowed to launch an attack on Washington or even the White House.

A local intelligence official said that the compound attacked today in a remote area of the Orakzai tribal region near the Afghan border belonged to one of Mehsud’s commanders.

Up to 30 suspected militants were at the compound when it was hit, and the Taliban have moved the dead and injured.

The strike is believed to be the first in Orakzai, another sign the US is expanding its attack zone, possibly because of pressure on militants to keep moving.

Since the US escalated its missile campaign last August most of the estimated three dozen strikes have been in North and South Waziristan tribal regions, where Mehsud is strongest.

Two other senior intelligence officials said they believe 12 people were killed in the strike, including close associates of Mehsud.

Pakistan has publicly protested at the attacks, calling them a violation of its sovereignty that also deepens anti-American sentiment. But President Barack Obama has signalled he has no intention of backing off. Officials say the strikes have killed top al-Qaida figures.

Mehsud has no record of attacking targets abroad, although he is suspected of being behind a 10-man cell arrested in Barcelona in January 2008 for plotting suicide attacks in Spain.

Pakistan’s former government and the CIA have named him as the prime suspect behind the December 2007 killing of former Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto. Pakistani officials accuse him of harbouring foreign fighters, including Central Asians linked to al-Qaida, and of training suicide bombers.

Washington has stepped up pressure on Pakistan to crack down on militants operating in its territory who are believed to pose a threat to US and Nato forces across the border in Afghanistan.

Militants have also been increasing attacks within Pakistan, threatening to destabilise the nuclear-armed country.

Monday’s attack on a police academy on Lahore’s outskirts left at least 12 people dead, including seven police, and sparked an eight-hour stand-off with security forces that ended when black-clad commandos stormed the compound. Some of the gunmen blew themselves up.

Analysts doubt that Mehsud’s Taliban fighters carried off the academy attack on their own, saying the group is probably working more closely than ever with militants based far from the Afghan frontier.