A suspected US missile strike destroyed a major Taliban training camp here on Saturday, killing at least 30 mainly al Qaeda foreign operatives, security officials said. Two missiles fired by an unmanned drone struck the camp of top Taliban commander Baitullah Mehsud in Ladha near the Afghan border, they said, adding Mehsud was not in the camp at the time of the strike.
Two Arabs, some local Taliban and a number of Uzbeks were killed in the strike, the latest in a series of such attacks, which have drawn strong protest from Pakistan. "The death toll in the twin missile strikes has jumped to 30," a senior security official told AFP, revising upwards the earlier toll of 20.
Local officials said six militants were wounded in the attack, but did not disclose their identities. Residents said Taliban militants surrounded the attack site, which was in an isolated area, and would not let anyone inside. The building was completely destroyed and number of bodies were buried in the rubble.
The latest drone strike came despite Pakistan's hopes that the administration of US President Barack Obama would review the policy and abandon what Islamabad has called a violation of its sovereignty. The incident comes a day after US envoy Richard Holbrooke left Pakistan, where he visited the NWFP and held talks with military commanders about the fight against extremists.