ISLAMABAD (AFP) — A missile strike by a suspected US drone killed at least three militants Friday in a Pakistani tribal district known to be a stronghold of Al-Qaeda and the Taliban, an official said.
"A missile fired by a suspected US drone killed three people outside the town of Mir Ali in Miranshah tribal district," a senior security official told AFP.
Local officials confirmed the strike and said it targeted the houses of a suspected Taliban militant north of Mir Ali.
Two people were also injured in the attack. Taliban militants immediately surrounded the house and did not allow locals to come near the site, witnesses said.
Washington has stepped up its missile strikes against suspected Al-Qaeda and Taliban hideouts in tribal areas bordering Afghanistan in recent months despite protests by Islamabad.
A missile attack late last month by a US jet killed Rashid Rauf, the alleged Al-Qaeda mastermind of a 2006 transatlantic airplane bombing plot, as well as an Egyptian Al-Qaeda operative, security officials have said.
The strikes have continued despite a warning by Taliban militants based in tribal territory last month that any more would lead to reprisal attacks across Pakistan.
Terror network chief Osama bin Laden is widely believed to be hiding in the border territory, although there is no clear information about his whereabouts.
Two car bombings Friday killed at least 22 people in the capital city of Peshawar and the Orakzai tribal district, amid deteriorating security in the country's sensitive northwest province.
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