US drone attack kills 12 in Pakistan

[joeblow]

US drone attack kills 12 in Pakistan
Thu, 14 Jan 2010 05:38:53 GMT

http://www.presstv.com/detail.aspx?id=1 ... =351020401



At least 12 people have been killed in the latest American drone attack in the volatile region of North Waziristan in Pakistan.

The attack targeted a compound in Pasalkot village on Thursday, according to Pakistan's security forces.

Some reports say that Pakistan's Tehrik-e-Taliban chief Hakimullah Mehsud was targeted in the attack.

"Local people are saying he was there at the time. We don't know if he was hit or not, if he's dead or alive," a senior Pakistani security official said.

However, Taliban Spokesman Azam Tariq denied the reports of Hakimullah's death.

"He is safe. These are just rumors. He was not there when the attack took place," Tariq told Reuters by telephone

It was not the first time Hakimullah had been reported killed. The government said in August he had been killed after his predecessor Baitullah Mehsud's death.

The United States has stepped up its drone strikes in Pakistan since seven CIA agents were killed in neighboring Afghanistan.

Hundreds of people, many of them civilians, have been killed since 2006 in CIA-operated drone strikes in Pakistan.


AGB/MB