US missiles attack kills 16 in Pakistan

Suspected US drones fired four missiles at two compounds in north-western Pakistan near the Afghan border, killing 16 alleged militants, Pakistani intelligence officials said today.

The strikes took place just before midnight in Bobar village in the South Waziristan tribal area, a stronghold of the Pakistani Taliban, said the officials.

The two compounds were hit about 20 minutes apart, said the officials. It is unclear how many suspected militants were killed in each compound.

The Pakistani military conducted a large ground offensive against the Pakistani Taliban in South Waziristan in 2009, but militants remain in the area and periodic attacks still occur.

Earlier, militants attacked an army checkpoint in the Ladha area of South Waziristan with rockets, killing one soldier and wounding another, intelligence officials said.

The area where the drone strikes occurred is very remote and has not yet been cleared by the military, said the intelligence officials. There has been at least one strike in this area before.

The US does not acknowledge the CIA-run drone programme in Pakistan publicly, but officials have said privately that the strikes have killed many senior al-Qaida and Taliban commanders.

The Obama administration has ramped up the number of drone strikes in Pakistan’s rugged tribal region in the past few years. Most of the strikes have targeted al Qaida militants or Afghan Taliban insurgents battling US forces in Afghanistan.

But the attacks have also killed Pakistani Taliban fighters, who are allied with Afghan militants but have focused their attacks inside Pakistan. A US drone strike killed Pakistani Taliban leader Baitullah Mehsud in 2009.

Pakistani officials have criticised the strikes as violations of the country’s sovereignty, but the government is widely believed to have supported the strikes in the past and even let the drones take off from bases inside Pakistan.

Pakistani criticism has been more muted when the attacks target members of the Pakistani Taliban or al-Qaida, rather than Afghan militants with whom the government has historical ties.

Many analysts believe Pakistan sees the Afghan Taliban and their allies as potential partners in Afghanistan after foreign forces withdraw.