19 killed in multiple US drone strikes

MIRANSHAH: Two suspected US missile strikes, one using multiple drones, killed 19 people in an area of North Waziristan tribal region along the Afghan border Thursday.

Officials said the second, bloodier attack involved five drones and 10 missiles — an unusually intense bombardment that suggested the Americans were homing in on a major target, a US news agency reported.

Officials said in the first strike, two missiles hit a car carrying two suspected insurgents in Dosali village. Later Thursday, the 10 missiles fired by five drones killed 15 people in two compounds in the Ambarshaga area. At least seven of the dead were foreigners, the officials said on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to speak to media.

The intelligence officials on Thursday confirmed that the two strikes hit territory controlled by Hafiz Gul Bahadur, a warlord whose fighters focus on Afghanistan. Bahadur has agreed to stay out of the way as the Pakistani army has waged an offensive in neighboring South Waziristan against the Tehrik-e-Taliban Pakistan — or Pakistani Taliban Movement.

Analysts have warned that U.S. missile strikes could upset the deals with Bahadur, and lead him to aid the Pakistani Taliban against the military. Still, a number of missile strikes have been carried out in the region in recent weeks and there's no evidence that has happened just yet. The U.S. also is unlikely to hold off if it has intelligence on the whereabouts of a high-value target.

The attacks came amid political turbulence in the country. President Zardari faced fresh calls to step down after the Supreme Court struck down NRO that had protected the increasingly unpopular leader and several of his political allies from corruption charges.