US predator strikes in Pakistan killed at least 32

AFP Photo

ISLAMABAD (AFP) - Suspected US missiles struck two deadly blows Friday killing 32 mainly Al-Qaeda operatives and injuring a key Taliban commander in a Pakistani tribal area near the Afghan border, officials said.

The two strikes within a few hours were the latest in series of attacks that have raised tensions between Washington and Islamabad. In the first attack two missiles hit a pick-up truck and a house west of Mir Ali, a town in the troubled North Waziristan region bordering Afghanistan, killing 20 mainly Arab militants, officials said. They told AFP the strike targeted an Al-Qaeda financial coordinator known as Abu Akasa Al-Iraqi and that there were unconfirmed local reports that he was among the dead. Two further missiles fired by a suspected US drone at a militant hideout near Wana, the main town in neighbouring South Waziristan, killed 12 suspected rebels soon after, a senior security official said. They included "foreigners", the official said -- using the term by which security services refer to Al-Qaeda operatives. Officials said top Taliban commander Mullah Nazir was wounded in the strike. "Nazir sustained injuries and was rushed to a hospital by Taliban. We are not sure about the seriousness of injuries to him" a top security official told AFP. "In the two strikes the majority of those killed were Al-Qaeda operatives and some Taliban local commanders."

Local administration official Mowaz Khan also confirmed Nazir, who leads the Pakistani Taliban faction accused by the United States of sending fighters across the border, was wounded in the attack. Officials said 30 militants, mostly Taliban fighters, were injured in the attack. The attacks came just two days after Pakistan, a key ally in the US-led "war on terror", summoned Washington's ambassador to Islamabad to deliver a strong protest over a number of similar strikes. "Some 20 militants were killed in the attack and most were Arabs. It was a successful strike," another security official told AFP on condition of anonymity, referring to the first attack. Local residents said the strike hit the house of a Pakistani tribesman named Amanullah Dawar. It was not immediately clear whether the house or the vehicle, a pick-up truck, was blown up first, officials said. Officials in North Waziristan said al-Iraqi was believed killed but added that they were still seeking confirmation. He was known locally as Abdullah and officials said that while he was not part of the top Al-Qaeda hierarchy he played an important role as a financial "lynchpin".

Friday's attacks were the 17th and 18th such strikes in the past 10 weeks, according to an AFP tally. All have been blamed on US-led coalition forces or CIA drones based in neighbouring Afghanistan. A strike on Sunday killed senior Taliban commander Haji Omar Khan, a lieutenant of veteran Afghan Taliban chieftain and former anti-Soviet fighter Jalaluddin Haqqani. The attacks have sharply raised tensions between Washington and nuclear-armed Pakistan. Pakistan's foreign ministry said on Wednesday that it called in US envoy Anne Patterson over the strikes. "It was underscored to the ambassador that the government of Pakistan strongly condemns the missile attacks which resulted in the loss of precious lives and property," the ministry said in a statement. Pakistani President Asif Ali Zardari has promised zero tolerance against violations of his country's sovereignty. The attacks have also become an election issue in the US presidential campaign. A New York Times report last month said Pakistan's national security adviser Mahmud Ali Durrani made an unannounced visit to top White House officials after a strike in early September to voice his anger in person. The attack on September 3 led to civilian casualties.(AFP)