US Drone Suspected of Deadly Attack on Pakistan Border With Afghanistan

A suspected US drone killed at least six people in a missile strike in a Pakistani tribal region near the Afghan border, officials said today.The strike came amid reports that Pakistan's top Taliban leader, Baitullah Mehsud, had fallen ill and died. Pakistani officials have accused Mehsud over the assassinated of former leader Benazir Bhutto.Two missiles were fired at a house in the Khushali Torikhel area near Mir Ali town at around midnight, according to local media reports. Pakistani intelligence officials said the missiles struck the home of a local Taliban commander before midnight Tuesday near Mir Ali, a town in the North Waziristan region.The officials said a US drone aircraft — not Pakistani forces — fired the missiles. Pakistani media reported that among the dead were a number of foreign militants.It was reported that the drone returned fire after it came under attack while it was hovering over a village. In recent weeks American forces have crossed the border in missions aimed against destroying Taliban and al-Qaida militant bases in Pakistan's border region with Afghanistan. These so-called "hot pursuits" have provoked anger in Pakistan — especially the raid earlier this month that saw US ground troops in the South Waziristan region, the stronghold of Mehsud, the head of Tehrik-e-Taliban Pakistan, an umbrella group for militant groups operating in north-west Pakistan.Mehsud has built up a loyal and fanatical following, and news of his death had spread quickly through the country. However, a close aide to Mehsud, Ibrahim Burqi, told Reuters that Mehsud had been sick some time ago but was now fine. "Rumors about his death are being spread to weaken the Tehrik-e-Taliban," Burqi said by telephone from an undisclosed location. The new Pakistani government has insisted that only its forces can operate inside the country — and to emphasize its sovereignty the army has opened fire at US helicopters which have strayed into the country's airspace.American officials have voiced frustration at Pakistan's failure to kill or capture militant leaders — including Osama Bin Laden — whom they accuse of sending militants and arms into Afghanistan, where foreign troop casualties are escalating.In an interview with the New York Times General David Petraeus, who is about to become head of the US Central Command, said that making headway in both Afghanistan and Pakistan would require taking away militant sanctuaries and strongholds that the insurgents would defend tenaciously."In both places, in certain areas, the going may be tougher before it gets easier," he said.Pakistan's army chief on Monday appointed a new head of the country's spy service, the Inter-Services Intelligence agency, which has been blamed in both India and Afghanistan for being behind the bombing of the Indian embassy in Kabul which left 54 dead.