The death toll from two suspected U.S. missile strikes along the Afghan border in Pakistan is rising.
Pakistani officials say on Saturday at least 21 people were killed in the attacks Fridayin the country's northwestern tribal regions.
The officials say a suspected U.S. drone (unmanned aircraft) fired three missiles into a house in a village (Zharki) outside Mir Ali, in North Waziristan province.
Local officials say five of those killed were foreign militants. The
area is considered a hub for al-Qaida and Taliban activity.
Hours later, a second missile strike hit neighboring South Waziristan.
There have been about 30 similar missile attacks in Pakistan since the
middle of last year despite public objections by the Pakistani
government. These are the first such strikes since U.S. President
Barack Obama took office on Tuesday. The Bush administration refused to
confirm or deny responsibility for such strikes.
In an interview with CNN television on Friday, former Pakistani
President Pervez Musharraf said public opinion in Pakistan was very
much against the missile strikes, but that he expected nothing
different from the new U.S. president.
He also said Pakistan should have received more U.S. funding for
helping in the war on terror, saying the 10-billion dollars it received
from the U.S. was much less than the U.S. has spent in Afghanistan and
Iraq.
Also Friday, the Pakistani foreign ministry welcomed Mr. Obama's appointment (Thursday) of a new special envoy to Afghanistan and Pakistan (Richard Holbrooke).