US missile strike kills one in Pakistan

{image-missile strike_15062008.jpg news.oneindia.in}Peshawar, June 15 : Unmanned US drones fired three guided missiles at a house in the Makeen area of South Waziristan in Pakistan, killing one person, a private television channel reported.

The drones fired three missiles at a house in a bid to target the hideout of Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan chief Baitullah Mehsud. Locals have recovered one dead body from the debris of the house while more casualties are feared, the channel said. Inter-Services Public Relations spokesman Major General Athar Abbas said he could not confirm the attack or the casualties. Abbas said that neither the political agent concerned nor locals could confirm the incident, as there was no military presence in the area, The News reported.

A local security official said, "Extremists tried to hit the drone with a rocket-propelled grenade". "The place from where the grenade was fired was then struck by a missile fired by the unmanned drone killing one suspected militant," the official said.

After the missile attack, the US drones made flights over the Shawal area of North Waziristan, where locals also fired at the planes, The News reported.

Several missile strikes in the tribal belt this year have been attributed to the US-led coalition based in Afghanistan, killing a number of people.

The incident in Makeen comes just days after an air strike by US-led coalition forces that had killed 11 Pakistani troops.

ANI