April 2, 2009
Missile Strike Said to Kill 10 in Pakistan
By PIR ZUBAIR SHAH and ALAN COWELL
PESHAWAR, Pakistan -- Missiles fired from what was believed to be an American drone struck a militant training camp in northwest Pakistan on Wednesday, killing at least 10 people in an attack apparently aimed at one of the area's most important Taliban leaders, Hakimullah Mehsud, according to news reports, militants and an intelligence official.
Mr. Mehsud escaped unhurt, the intelligence official said, speaking on the condition of anonymity. The attack was the first of its kind in the Orakzai region, which lies southwest of Peshawar and close to the border with Afghanistan, residents said.
The region is strategically important because it borders other areas in Pakistan known for widespread Taliban activity.
Mr. Mehsud is a prominent lieutenant of Baitullah Mehsud, the leader of the Pakistani Taliban, who claimed responsibility for an assault this week on police cadets in Lahore, Pakistan.
"We wholeheartedly take responsibility for this attack and will carry out more such attacks in the future," Baitullah Mehsud said Tuesday, according to Reuters.
"It's revenge for the drone attacks on Pakistan," he said. Without elaborating, he also claimed to be planning an attack on Washington.
Hakimullah Mehsud is in charge of Taliban operations in three of Pakistan's lawless tribal regions in a belt of territory used by Al Qaeda and the Taliban as a rear base for attacks on NATO and American forces in Afghanistan. Pakistani officials also hold his forces responsible for attacking NATO depots in Peshawar used to resupply international forces in Afghanistan. His influence is such that he has imposed strict Islamic law in the Orakzai region, residents said.
Some accounts by Pakistani television stations said that 12 people had died in the missile attack on Wednesday. News reports from the area said Taliban militants had sealed off the target zone immediately after the attack.
Pakistani authorities frequently criticize the drone attacks as a violation of Pakistan's sovereignty, and the Pakistani public resents the strikes. But the United States says they form a central part of its tactics to oppose the Taliban in the border area.
Pir Zubair Shah reported from Peshawar, and Alan Cowell from Paris.