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US drone strike 'kills 15' in Pakistan US drone strike 'kills 15' in Pakistan
(about 3 hours later)
A strike by a US drone aircraft has killed 15 people near the Afghan border, Pakistani officials say. A strike by an unmanned US drone aircraft has killed 15 people near the Afghan border, Pakistani officials say.
They said missiles hit a suspected militant compound in the town of Mir Ali in the North Waziristan tribal region. Two missiles are reported to have hit a suspected militant compound before dawn in Hesokhel, to the east of Miranshah, the capital of North Waziristan.
It is the third such attack in as many days in Pakistan's frontier tribal region, where the US is targeting al-Qaeda and Taliban militants. The frontier tribal region is considered a hub of activity by al-Qaeda and Taliban militants.
The attacks, by pilotless aircraft, are deeply controversial in Pakistan. There have been eight US drone strikes in the past two weeks despite Pakistani demands for them to be stopped.
Mir Ali, 25km (15 miles) east of Miranshah, capital of North Waziristan, is considered a hub of insurgent activity. In the latest incident, the first missile struck the compound in Hesokhel before dawn, killing three militants, security officials said.
"Fifteen militants were killed in a dawn strike on a compound. The bodies of those killed were unable to be identified," a security official in Miranshah told AFP news agency. A second missile then killed 12 more militants who had arrived at the scene, they added.
He said there were unconfirmed reports that foreigners were among the dead. The bodies of the suspected militants have not yet been identified, but there were unconfirmed reports that foreigners were among the dead.
Islamabad says the drone attacks fuel anti-US sentiment in the country and also claim civilian casualties along with militants. It is the eighth and deadliest attack since 23 March, marking a considerable upsurge in the use of the controversial US drone programme, reports the BBC's Aleem Maqbool in Islamabad.
Washington insists the strikes are highly effective. It has come about since a deal to reopen Nato supply routes through Pakistan fell through.
The US and Pakistan are currently deadlocked in negotiations over the re-opening of overland supply routes to Nato forces in Afghanistan. The Pakistani government closed the routes six months ago in protest at a US air strike along the Afghan border in which 24 Pakistani soldiers were killed, an episode which contributed to the current crisis in relations between Washington and Islamabad, our correspondent adds.
Pakistan blocked the routes last November after a US air strike on the Afghan border killed 24 Pakistani soldiers. Pakistan says the drone attacks fuel anti-US sentiment and claim civilian casualties along with militants. The US insists the strikes are effective.