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MIRANSHAH - A missile attack, possibly launched by United States forces in Afghanistan, killed at least 32 pro-Taleban militants in a Pakistani tribal region near the border yesterday, Pakistani officials said.
The missiles targeted a suspected training base in a village near the mountainous Datta Khel district, 60km west of Miranshah, the main town in North Waziristan, said the officials, who spoke on condition of anonymity.
Intelligence officials said some foreigners were among those killed, raising the possibility that al Qaeda fighters might have also been present. North Waziristan is a known refuge for remnants of Osama bin Laden's network.
Army spokesman Major-General Waheed Arshad said there had been an explosion in the area, but he denied it was caused by missiles and added that the Army had not carried out any operations there either.
"It wasn't a missile attack," Arshad said, adding that initial reports suggested the explosion occurred while the militants were making a bomb.
According to intelligence officials and residents, however, a US pilotless drone aircraft carried out the attack. It was not known whether any leading Taleban or al Qaeda figures were targeted.
- REUTERS
