US Drone Strike Kills At Least 20 In Pakistan

The Washington Post reports:

ISLAMABAD — U.S. drones fired 10 missiles at a house in a Pakistani tribal region near the Afghan border on Friday, killing at least 25 people, Pakistani intelligence officials said. The strike came a day after Pakistan’s army chief denounced such attacks, and could further sour already deteriorating relations between Washington and Islamabad.

Also Friday, hundreds of militants attacked a checkpoint in a northwest Pakistani district along the border overnight and into the morning hours, killing 14 security troops, officials said — a show of insurgents’ continued strength despite army offensives against them.

The latest U.S. missiles hit Spinwam village in North Waziristan, a tribal region home to Islamist militants that target American and NATO troops in Afghanistan. The three intelligence officials said civilians were believed to be among the dead, and that several people also were wounded. The reported death toll was relatively high for an American missile strike.

The U.S. rarely acknowledges the CIA-run missile program, meaning the usual sources for the confirmation of strikes are Pakistani intelligence officials, who speak on condition of anonymity because they do not have permission to speak to the media. That information from the region is nearly impossible to verify independently. The area is remote, rugged and dangerous, and access to it is legally restricted.

Although Pakistan has long denounced the drone-fired missile strikes as violations of its sovereignty, it is widely believed to secretly cooperate with at least some of the attacks.

But Pakistan-U.S. relations have sunk to new lows this year after an American CIA contractor in January shot and killed two Pakistanis he said were trying to rob him. A March missile strike that allegedly killed dozens of innocent tribesmen also angered Pakistani leaders.

The U.S. seems intent on using the drones, nonetheless. Last week, just two days after a visit to Washington by Pakistan’s spy chief, a U.S. missile strike killed several alleged militants in the northwest and drew condemnation from the Pakistani Foreign Ministry.

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