Suspected missile strikes by a U.S. drone on a tribal area in northwest Pakistan, a stronghold of Taliban and Al-Qaida, killed more than eight persons Monday, media reports said.
Two missiles struck in quick succession the villages of Karikot and Shin Warsak in South Waziristan on the border with Afghanistan.
According to a senior security official two vehicles fitted with guns were destroyed in two separate attacks that also damaged a house. However, it was not immediately clear if any senior Taliban or Al-Qaida operatives were killed, he said, adding that the eight persons killed were all inside the vehicles.
The strikes caused huge fires in both villages, sending panicked residents running into the streets, he said.
U.S. forces in Afghanistan have launched more than 30 airstrikes this year against suspected Al-Qaida and Taliban hideouts in Pakistan's lawless tribal areas bordering Afghanistan.
The strikes, all blamed on unmanned CIA drones, have raised tensions between Washington and Islamabad, with the former alleging that Pakistan has not been doing enough to halt attacks on western forces by Al-Qaida and Taliban operating from its soil.
Last week, U.S. President George Bush categorically ruled out consultations with other governments (read 'Pakistan') prior to carrying out drone attacks on suspected terrorist targets inside the lawless tribal areas of Pakistan bordering Afghanistan.
"You know very well that when it comes to certain matters, the U.S. government doesn't discuss operations," Bush said when asked if Afghan President Hamid Karzai and he were on the same wavelength on drone attacks.
Pakistan says the U.S. strikes violate its sovereignty and territorial integrity and undermine efforts to fight militancy by inflaming public anger against the west. However, it has been reluctant to move either diplomatically or militarily to stop these strikes, fuelling speculation that the attacks may be part of a secret pact between Pakistan and the U.S.
Rashid Rauf, the alleged Al-Qaida mastermind of a 2006 transatlantic airplane bombing plot, as well as an Egyptian Al-Qaida operative were killed in a missile attack last month.
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