Suspected US missiles strike deep inside Pakistan
A suspected American missile bombarded a village deep inside Pakistani territory Wednesday, officials said, marking what appears to be the first time the United States has struck beyond the tribal belt bordering Afghanistan.
Six alleged militants were killed.
A suspected American missile bombarded a village deep inside Pakistani territory Wednesday, officials said, marking what appears to be the first time the United States has struck beyond the tribal belt bordering Afghanistan.
Six alleged militants were killed.
Hours after the strike, a large Islamist political party warned it would block two major supply routes for U.S. and NATO forces in Afghanistan that run through Pakistan unless the attacks ended.
The attacks have killed scores of suspected al-Qaida and Taliban militants in the tribal regions – a rumored hiding place of Osama bin Laden – but have enraged the country’s civilian leadership. The U.S., which says Taliban and al-Qaida militants use pockets of northwest Pakistan to plan attacks on foreign troops in Afghanistan, has been blamed in about 20 cross-border missile strikes since August. The United States rarely confirms or denies the strikes, which are believed to be carried out mainly by the CIA.
Pakistan has protested the strikes as violations of its sovereignty and international law.
Brief by The Associated Press
