Pakistani officials say a suspected missile strike by a U.S.
drone aircraft has killed up to 10 militants in a tribal region near the Afghan
border.
The attack late Tuesday in North Waziristan followed a similar strike a day
earlier that killed five people in the same region.
U.S. unmanned aircraft are believed to have fired more than 40 missiles at
suspected al-Qaida and Taliban strongholds in northwest Pakistan in recent
months. American officials rarely discuss the missile strikes, which Pakistan
has publicly criticized (as counterproductive and a violation of its
sovereignty).
Meanwhile, the Pakistani military says its forces killed 24 militants during an
operation in the Khyber region targeting the Taliban-affiliated group
Lashkar-e-Islam.
The offensive was launched last week following a suicide bombing at a border
checkpoint that killed at least 21 people, most of them police.