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US Drone Strikes Kill 12 in Western Pakistan


Pakistani intelligence officials say two suspected U.S. drone attacks in the Taliban-dominated tribal areas have killed at least 12 people.

The first attack targeted a vehicle carrying two suspected militants in the North Waziristan tribal area near the Afghan border.

Hours later elsewhere in North Waziristan, officials say several drones fired seven missiles into suspected militant compounds. They say the death toll could rise.

The strikes come a day after Pakistan's Supreme Court struck down an amnesty for President Asif Ali Zardari and 8,000 other senior politicians, bureaucrats and businessmen. The court said the amnesty conflicted with the constitution.

Pakistani opposition groups responded by calling for Mr. Zardari to step down from office, but a spokesman said he has no plans to do so.

Members of the opposition Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz party have called on him to resign on moral grounds.

Mr. Zardari is still immune from prosecution as president, but analysts say his already weak government could be further undermined if his political allies face charges.

Former President Pervez Musharraf introduced the amnesty in the 2007 National Reconciliation Ordinance.

The measure was part of a power-sharing deal reached with Mr. Zardari's wife, former Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto. She was assassinated two months later, two weeks before general elections in which she was a leading opposition candidate.

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