Two US drone attacks killed 18 militants in Pakistan today, intelligence officials said, after recent Nato incursions raised tensions with an ally Washington needs in efforts to stabilize Afghanistan.
The US has widened pilotless drone aircraft missile strikes against al Qaeda-linked militants in Pakistan's northwest, with 21 attacks in September alone, the highest number in a single month on record.
Angered by repeated incursions by Nato helicopters over the past week, Pakistan blocked a supply route for coalition troops in Afghanistan after one such strike killed three Pakistani soldiers on Thursday in the northwestern Kurram region.
Two drone attacks within hours of each other killed 18 militants in Datta Khel town in North Waziristan tribal region along the Afghan border, intelligence officials said.
"In the first attack two missiles were fired at a house while in the second attack four missiles targeted a house and a vehicle. The death toll in the two attacks reached 18," said one intelligence official. At least six foreigners were killed in the first strike.
There was no independent confirmation of the attacks and militants often dispute official death tolls.
A large number of Arab, Chechan and Central Asian insurgents have taken shelter with Pakistani militants in the lawless tribal regions on the Afghan border after fleeing the US-led war in Afghanistan in late 2001.
Militants in Pakistan set fire to three dozen tankers carrying fuel for NATO troops in Afghanistan on Friday, officials said. The Taliban claimed responsibility for the attack.
Reuters