Top Taliban commander among 20 killed in U.S. missile strike

Rezaul H Laskar

Islamabad, Oct 27 (PTI) A top Taliban commander was among
20 people killed in a suspected U.S. missile strike on a house
in South Waziristan, in stepped up attacks on militant
hideouts close to the Afghan border.

The missile attack came as violence continued to rage
across Pakistan's troubled frontier region, as a car-bomb
exploded by a suicide bomber razed to rubble a checkpoint in
the V.V.I.P. area of the capital city of Quetta of the
adjoining Baluchistan province killing two and wounding 12
others.
In a pre-dawn raid, suspected U.S. drones targeted a
militant training camp, near Ladha town in which 20 people
were reported killed including Haji Omar Khan, a Lieutenant of
Afghan Taliban Commander Jalaluddin Haqqani.

According to reports, militants cordoned off the scene of
the strike and the identity of the 20 bodies in the rubble was
not known, but intelligence officials said among those killed
were two other Taliban commanders and number of the armed
guards.

The missile attack came hours before tribal leaders from
Afghanistan and Pakistan met in Islamabad to discuss how to
tackle the growing strength of Taliban and Al-Qaeda militants
holed up close to the porous border of the two countries.

This was the 12th missile strike in last ten days on the
Pakistani soil in a series of raids which have raised tensions
between Washington and Islamabad.

Cross-border strikes, which are denied by Washington and
N.A.T.O. commanders in Kabul have so far killed three to four
prominent Taliban chiefs as well as large number of foreign
fighters mainly Arabs, Uzbeks and others.

The car-bomb in Quetta exploded in a parking lot near a
checkpoint in an area which houses the offices of provincial
governor and Iranian consulate.

Police said a rickshaw driver and another man were killed
and 12 others injured.

There was no claim of responsibility.

Quetta has been a scene of violence for the past ten
years with some local Baluchi tribes seeking more autonomy. It
is also considered a hub of Taliban militants operating in
neighbouring Afghanistan.

In another attack, a suicide bomber rammed an
explosive-laden vehicle into a security post in the Mohmand
tribal area late yesterday killing one civilian and injuring
13 others including 11 security personnel.

The continued missile attacks evoked the ire of the new
civilian government in Islamabad. Prime Minster Yousuf Raza
Gilani said that U.S. drone strikes in Pakistan's tribal belt
were weakening the country's efforts to combat terrorism.

Last week, the Senate or upper house of parliament had
condemned the missile strikes, saying they were unacceptable.
Members of the Senate also pointed out that the strikes had
continued despite assurances from the U.S. that no such
attacks would take place.

"Certainly (U.S. attacks) are proving counter-productive
to (the government's) efforts of isolating extremists and
militants from the tribal population, which was going through
the formation of tribal lashkars (militias)," Gilani said.

Gilani described the missiles strikes as attacks on
Pakistan's sovereignty and said they would not be tolerated.
The government would take all possible steps to stop the
attacks, he said. PTI R.H.L.
RKM
NNNN