Ten killed in US missile attack in Pakistan

At least 10 people were killed on Friday in a missile attack by a US aircraft in the northwestern Pakistani region of North Waziristan, a haven for Al Qaeda and Taliban militants, a security official said.

The strike, near the town of Miranshah, was the first since a recent surge in tension between Pakistan and the United States over how to tackle the Taliban and al Qaeda along the border with Afghanistan.

"Yes, missiles have been fired. We have reports that more than 10 people were killed," a security official said.

Residents said two missiles were fired at a former government school where militants and their families were living in Tool Kheil village, 5 km (3 miles) east of Miranshah.

An intensifying insurgency in Afghanistan has compounded pressure on Pakistan to go after militants operating from remote enclaves on its side of the border.

It has also led to an increase in missile attacks by US drone aircraft, with about a dozen strikes this year killing scores of suspected militants and civilians.

But in addition to missile strikes, helicopter-borne US commandos carried out a bloody ground assault in Pakistan's South Waziristan last week, the first known incursion into Pakistan by US troops since the 2001 invasion of Afghanistan.

Pakistan condemned the raid. The US military said on Wednesday it was not winning in Afghanistan and would revise its strategy to combat militant havens in Pakistan.

But Pakistani army chief General Ashfaq Kayani said in a strongly worded statement Pakistan would not allow foreign troops onto its soil.

Pakistan's sovereignty and territorial integrity would be defended at all cost, he said, while dismissing speculation of a secret deal allowing US forces to cross the border.

Kayani said there were no quick fixes to a highly complex militant problem and political reconciliation efforts were also needed.

The New York Times reported on Thursday that President George W Bush had secretly approved orders in July that for the first time allowed US special forces to carry out ground assaults inside Pakistan without the approval of the Pakistani government.

US officials declined to comment on the report and Pakistan's US ambassador Husain Haqqani told Reuters Bush had not issued new orders. - Reuters