US drone attack kills 11 militants in Pakistan

ISLAMABAD - At least 11 militants were killed Tuesday in a suspected US drone attack in Pakistan’s tribal region along the Afghan border, Pakistani security officials said.

An intelligence official said the unmanned aircraft fired three missiles into a house in the Shawal Valley in the North Waziristan tribal district, demolishing the compound.

“The house was used by the local Taliban militants as a centre,” said the official, who spoke on the condition of anonymity. “The militants and villagers have pulled 11 bodies from the rubble, and the search for more bodies or injured is still going on.”

A second intelligence official confirmed the incident but put the death toll at 12.

It was the 10th drone attack this month in North Waziristan, a hub of Taliban and Al Qaeda fighters who launch cross-border raids on NATO-led international forces in Afghanistan.

The US does not publicly acknowledge the drone attacks, but the authorities in Washington unofficially claim that the drone campaign, intensified since 2008, in Pakistan’s tribal region has eliminated dozens of Al Qaeda and Taliban fighters.

Pakistan publicly condemns the drone strikes, saying they violate its sovereignty and fuel anti-American sentiment, but some analysts said they suspect Pakistani intelligence agents covertly cooperate with the CIA in identifying possible targets.