A local Taliban commander and two foreign militants are among nine people killed by a suspected US missile strike near the Afghan border, Pakistani officials said Monday. Pakistani intelligence officials initially said the attack in Khaddi village killed six people but raised that number to nine on Monday.
They spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorised to speak to the media. The slain insurgent leader was identified only as Mustafa. The officials said he was linked to Sadiq Noor, a key Taliban figure in North Waziristan. Three local tribesmen sheltering the militants were also identified on Sunday as among the dead. However, officials said Monday that there were no civilians killed, asserting that seven of the dead were under Noor's command and two were foreign fighters. The nationalities of foreign fighters were unclear.
Sunday's strike at a house in North Waziristan tribal area is part of Obama administration's campaign to use drones to target militants who regularly stage cross-border attacks on foreign troops in Afghanistan. Pakistan's lawless border region is a magnet for jihadis seeking to fight Nato forces in Afghanistan or train for terrorist attacks. Unmanned American drones have launched more than 100 missile strikes this year on targets in Pakistan, roughly double the number in all of 2009.
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