Suspected missile strike kills 27 in Pakistan

[unhappycamper]

Suspected missile strike kills 27 in Pakistan
By Munir Ahmad - The Associated Press
Posted : Saturday Feb 14, 2009 9:13:08 EST

ISLAMABAD — A suspected U.S. missile strike by a drone aircraft flattened a militant hide-out Saturday in northwestern Pakistan, killing 27 local and foreign insurgents, intelligence officials said.

Several more purported militants were wounded in the attack in South Waziristan, a militant stronghold near the Afghan border where al-Qaida leaders Osama bin Laden and Ayman al-Zawahri are believed to be hiding.

The U.S. administration has brushed off Pakistani criticism that the missile strikes fuel religious extremism and boost anti-American sentiment in the Islamic world’s only nuclear-armed nation.

Pilotless U.S. aircraft are believed to have launched more than 30 attacks since July, and American officials say al-Qaida’s leadership has been decimated. Pakistani officials say the vast majority of the victims are civilians.

Taliban fighters surrounded the compound targeted Saturday in the village of Shrawangai Nazarkhel and carried away the dead and wounded in several vehicles.


Rest of article at: http://armytimes.com/news/2009/02/ap_pakistan_021409/%2e