'US missiles' kill seven in Pakistan

Seven people were killed today when suspected US drones fired missiles at a house and a vehicle in a militant-infested area of northwestern Pakistan near the Afghan border.

Intelligence officials said the strikes were nearly 12 hours apart in the North Waziristan tribal area.

They were the latest attacks in an intensifying campaign by the US to use unmanned aircraft in Pakistan to wage war against militants who regularly target foreign troops in Afghanistan.

There have now been at least 19 suspected US missile strikes in Pakistan this month. There were 21 such attacks in September, nearly double the previous monthly record.

The first strike occurred at about 3:30 am when a drone fired a missile at a house in the Spin Wam area, killing three people, said the intelligence officials.

The second attack took place around 2:45 pm when a drone fired a missile at a vehicle in the Datta Khel area, killing four suspected foreign militants. Two were Arab and two were Western.

Many US drone strikes in recent months have targeted fighters linked to the Haqqani network, which military officials have declared the most dangerous militant group in Afghanistan.

The US refuses to publicly acknowledge that it carries out drone attacks in Pakistan, but officials have said privately that the covert CIA-run programme has killed several high-level Taliban and al Qaida commanders.

Pakistani officials often publicly criticise the strikes as a violation of the country’s sovereignty, but the government is widely believed to provide intelligence information for them.