Suspected U.S. Strike Kills 3 In Pakistan

(CBS/AP)  A suspected U.S. missile strike killed three Pakistan militants close to the Afghan border Friday, officials and witnesses said, the latest in a barrage of such attacks in the al Qaeda and Taliban stronghold.

Stepped-up strikes by U.S. unmanned planes since last August have killed scores of militants but angered Pakistani leaders, who say they undercut public support for their anti-terror campaign.

Also Friday, a Pakistani official said the main supply route for U.S. and NATO troops fighting in Afghanistan had been reopened. Operations against militants in the area are ongoing.

The Khyber Pass in northwest Pakistan was closed Tuesday to allow troops to target militants blamed for attacking convoys carrying equipment to Western forces in neighboring Afghanistan.

Khyber administration head Tariq Hayat Khan says the road reopened Friday for all traffic but military operations were continuing "on its outskirts."

The attack Friday in South Waziristan was the second in as many days in the region, a semiautonomous district where the central government and its security forces have little control.

Villager Yar Mohammed said the missile hit an abandoned school in the village of Medan. Two intelligence officials said at least three unidentified Pakistan militants were killed in the strike and two others were wounded.

They spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to speak to the media.

Shop owner Ameer Mohammed Khan said Taliban surrounded the area after the attack and shifted the dead and the injured to an undisclosed location.

Pakistani military officials were not immediately available for comment. Washington usually does not confirm such strikes, which are seen as a sign of frustration there with Islamabad's unwillingness or inability to crack down on militants.

There have been more than 30 strikes in the Afghan border region since last August. Islamabad insists it is cracking down on extremists, pointing to a campaign in the border area of Bajur that has left more than 1,000 suspected militants dead.

[tincup356]

To say these drone attacks were suspected US is stupid,,,who else has drones that can fire missiles in the area?.....No one else but the US. More political murders....too many innocent civilians are being killed by someone in a control room tens of thousands of miles away,,,who have no way to confirm the people they target are really terrorists.

[bangurmom]

FROM PAKISTAN: LETS UNDERSTAND THAT AMERICA IS A TERRORIST COUNTRY. ITS LEADERS ARE KNOWN THUGS AND TERRORISTS. PAKISTAN HAS BEEN SEVERELY DESTABILIZED BY YOUR TERRORIST ADVENTURE IN IRAQ. THE TRIBALS HAVE LIVED PEACEFULLY IN PAKISTAN FOR CENTURIES AND WILL RESIST FOREIGN INVADERS. PAKISTAN HAS BEEN FIGHTING FOR 60 YRS DUE TO INSTABILITY IN KASHMIR, AFGHANISTAN AND IRAN. PAKISTAN HAS BEEN STABBED MULTIPLE TIMES BY AMERICANS AND USED AS A PROXY STATE FOR OVER 40 YRS. ENOUGH IS ENOUGH. YOU PATHETIC SINGLE MOM KIDS, WHO WATCH TOO MUCH FOX NEWS AND RUBBISH MOVIES KNOW NOTHING SO JUST KEEP YOUR VIEWS TO YOURSELVES.

[vsg4]

" If the U.S. was smart they would nuke the entire border area with Afghanistan and let the area lay fallow for 100-200 years!

Posted by afmca at 10:22 AM : Jan 02, 2009"

I agree with you on this. Pakistan military should think twice before harboring, training and sending Islamic militants all over the world. Their closest alloy US bombing them, Jihadis bombing them. Do these trainers, authorities realize what have they achieved so far by keeping these training camps( they attract huge funding by Saudi Wahabis of course).

[checkthepast]

drmaqazi

I would love to agree with you but sadly
THOU SHALL KILL, PERIOD seems to be the
motto of much of islam.

[afmca]

My comment to Pakistan -- what exactly are your actions to contain terrorism inside and outside your borders? From what I see it has been a dismal failure. Pakistan has no control over their territories, are losing ground in other areas, and cannot control other terrorist groups that attack India. It appears the rest of the world needs to take over for your failings. If the U.S. was smart they would nuke the entire border area with Afghanistan and let the area lay fallow for 100-200 years!

[lobo62740]

Good point anan00.....means to me they don''t even know there was a strike (very poor news reporting)...and have you noticed they leave the term "militants" out of the tiles to give the illusion that perhaps it was innocent civilians killed instead of the vermen? Life is the same at CBS even after Dan Rather is long gone!!!!!

[runningralph]

Petro49L,
Good Morning Sir, Where did you get the info you are using in your post? I have no doubt that al Quada are murderous fanatics, but I haven''t heard about the drugs, pornography and child porn. I will try to find the info myself but I''m limited to newspapers, TV and internet sources. And internet sources are notoriously untrustworthy. I hope you can steer me down the right path. Please reply.

[petro49l]

Bin Laden targets Youth all over the world for his narcotics and illicit pornography. Dealers sell methamphetamine, LSD, PCP, heroin, and hashish on school yards across America. Small children are forcibly, sexually raped by Felons in films featured on the Internet. Al Qada reaps a great profit by catering to the lust of Junkies. Money pours-in to Internet brokerages that maintain Osama''s expense accounts.