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Pakistan missile strike kills 12 in new violence
afp.google.com ^ | Jan 29 2008

Posted on 01/29/2008 7:45:06 AM PST by Dog

MIRANSHAH, Pakistan (AFP) — Twelve suspected militants were killed by a missile strike in Pakistan's troubled tribal belt, hours after gunmen held 300 children hostage at a nearby school, officials said Tuesday.

Separately a Pakistani soldier was killed and five others injured in the latest clashes between security forces and Islamist insurgents in the lawless borderlands with Afghanistan, the army said.

The missile hit a house on Monday night in the North Waziristan tribal district bordering Afghanistan, where thousands of Pakistani troops are battling Al-Qaeda and Taliban-linked fighters.

Intelligence officials said the dead were pro-Taliban militants, but residents said they were tribesmen staying at the house of a local elder in Khushali Tari Khel, a village on the outskirts of the town of Mir Ali.

"A missile came from an unknown direction on Monday night and hit the house, after which 12 people have died," a local administration official told AFP.

The Pakistani army was not immediately available for comment.

"The identities of the dead are not ascertained but we had reports that suspected them of being linked to the Taliban," an intelligence official said.

It was not clear who fired the missile but several previous attacks in the area have been attributed to US-led coalition forces across the border in Afghanistan.

Islamabad is loath to admit any US military action on its territory, given that President Pervez Musharraf has repeatedly rejected US offers for joint operations in Pakistan's troubled borderlands.

Washington and other western allies are increasingly concerned by unrest and extremist violence in Pakistan following the assassination last month of opposition leader Benazir Bhutto.

Musharraf said during a visit to London on Monday that a tough stance on extremism was necessary because of incidents like the mass hostage-taking at a school near the northwestern city of Bannu that same day.

The incident ended peacefully late Monday when the gunmen released their captives from the school and fled into North Waziristan, the border of which is only about five kilometres (three miles) away.

Officials did not say if there was any connection between the missile strike and the school siege.

Missile attacks have claimed the lives of several militants in Pakistan. A US Predator drone targeted Al-Qaeda's deputy leader Ayman al-Zawahiri in January 2006, killing several rebels but missing him.

In December 2005, Egyptian Al-Qaeda explosives specialist Hamza Rabia was killed in a blast in North Waziristan. Residents said it was a missile strike but the military insisted he was killed by one of his own bombs.

Meanwhile in the neighbouring tribal region of South Waziristan, the army said a soldier was killed in heavy fighting at Shishamwan village early Tuesday.

Militant casualties "could not be ascertained," an army statement said.

Clashes in the same region on Monday also claimed the life of a soldier.

South Waziristan is the stronghold of shadowy tribal warlord Baitullah Mehsud, who has been accused by Pakistan and the US Central Intelligence Agency of masterminding Bhutto's assassination on December 27.

He denies any involvement.

Officials also said that five soldiers were wounded in rocket attacks in North Waziristan overnight.


TOPICS: Breaking News; News/Current Events; War on Terror
KEYWORDS: alqaeda; miscreants; pakistan; taliban; waziristan
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And so it begins...
1 posted on 01/29/2008 7:45:07 AM PST by Dog
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To: ASA Vet; Southack; Cap Huff; jeffers; AdmSmith

Here we go...strap in and enjoy the ride.


2 posted on 01/29/2008 7:46:45 AM PST by Dog
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To: Dog

About damned time. This is going to get ugly, but waiting isn’t going to make it any better.


3 posted on 01/29/2008 7:48:05 AM PST by The Pack Knight (Duty, Honor, Country.)
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To: Dog

Dog, call me naive. What are the implications of this attack?


4 posted on 01/29/2008 7:50:09 AM PST by mplsconservative
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To: mplsconservative

implications are, more street sweeping of verminous body parts.


5 posted on 01/29/2008 7:52:45 AM PST by Tulsa Ramjet ("If not now, when?" "Because it's judgment that defeats us.")
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To: mplsconservative
Don't ever be afraid to ask a question..

Someone had intel that a person of interest was in this house....and decided to lob a missile at the person of interest.

It also points to a more hands on approach by someone.

6 posted on 01/29/2008 7:54:39 AM PST by Dog
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To: Tulsa Ramjet

Good. Always ready to get rid of the vermin.


7 posted on 01/29/2008 7:55:44 AM PST by mplsconservative
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To: Dog

Thanks. Always ready for some good news.


8 posted on 01/29/2008 7:56:56 AM PST by mplsconservative
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To: Dog
"A missile came from an unknown direction on Monday night and hit the house"

I love it!

9 posted on 01/29/2008 8:00:23 AM PST by waimea.man
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To: Dog
It was not clear who fired the missile

LOL! Coming a few days after Musharraf's loud, public "refusal" to allow American access to the border regions. Almost certainly that was a cover story.

10 posted on 01/29/2008 8:02:26 AM PST by denydenydeny (Expel the priest and you don't inaugurate the age of reason, you get the witch doctor--Paul Johnson)
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To: txflake

Ho boy.


11 posted on 01/29/2008 8:02:46 AM PST by Army Air Corps (Four fried chickens and a coke)
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To: voletti; GOPJ; Tigen; AliVeritas; Grimmy; gonzo; DeaconBenjamin; indcons; sukhoi-30mki; ...
Pakistan ۋﮧ۱م

It begins.....
12 posted on 01/29/2008 8:02:52 AM PST by G8 Diplomat (Creatures are divided into 6 kingdoms: Animalia, Plantae, Fungi, Monera, Protista, & Saudi Arabia)
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To: mplsconservative

JMHO, but smells like “somebody” just nailed a target with a Predator/JDAM/AGM-something-or-other.

If the report had come out with a number of women and children among the dead, the actual count would have included high-ranking AlQ, so guess we only got a couple squads of grunts.

Every little bit helps.


13 posted on 01/29/2008 8:05:36 AM PST by Unrepentant VN Vet (Some folks wouldn't recognize a wolf at the door until they lost body parts every time a bell rang.)
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To: Dog

Yep. Here’s a related thread of a new US Base just opening for business 3 clicks from the border. Coincidence?

http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1961312/posts


14 posted on 01/29/2008 8:26:36 AM PST by rsflynn (Cigars, cigarettes, carbon offsets?)
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To: Dog

Sleep well, islamist vermin.


15 posted on 01/29/2008 8:36:27 AM PST by reagan_fanatic (Just say NO to the second coming of Clinton)
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To: Dog

Good shootin’ boys.


16 posted on 01/29/2008 8:38:03 AM PST by Straight Vermonter (Posting from deep behind the Maple Curtain)
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To: Dog

“A missile came from an unknown direction”
I bet it came from above. LOL


17 posted on 01/29/2008 9:33:09 AM PST by OJDIDIT2
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To: Dog
Intelligence officials said the dead were pro-Taliban militants, but residents said they were tribesmen staying at the house of a local elder in Khushali Tari Khel,

And the MSM wants us to think that those two statements are contradictory.

18 posted on 01/29/2008 9:35:04 AM PST by ArrogantBustard
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To: Dog; mplsconservative; Tulsa Ramjet

>>>>>>>It also points to a more hands on approach by someone.

In recent weeks the public proposals have been made by us to enter Waz, and Moosh has been protesting waayyyy too much.

Those data points confirm for me that “someone” is operating in Waz.


19 posted on 01/29/2008 9:41:21 AM PST by angkor (A conservative without hyphens, qualifiers, or a political party.)
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To: Dog
"Intelligence officials said the dead were pro-Taliban militants, but residents said they were tribesmen staying at the house of a local elder in Khushali Tari Khel, a village on the outskirts of the town of Mir Ali."

Yeah, blind women and children there to attend a wedding. We know the drill.

20 posted on 01/29/2008 9:49:29 AM PST by cake_crumb (Even if you're unable to FIGHT to save your country, you CAN vote to save it.)
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