US missiles kill 16 in Pakistan

The United States fired missiles at three suspected militant targets in north-west Pakistan today, killing 16 people and keeping the pressure on insurgents days after a strike was believed to have killed a top al-Qaida commander, intelligence officials said.

The identities of the dead in the unusually intense volley of drone-fired strikes in the tribal region of South Waziristan were not known, but several Arabs were said to be among the victims of one of them, according to the officials.