In Pakistan, Us Drone Strike on Taliban Kills 12

Two missiles fired from a suspected US drone killed at least 12 people and wounded several more in Pakistan's tribal region yesterday.

The missiles hit a building believed to be a Taliban safehouse in Orakzai, close to the Afghan border. According to reports, militants sealed off the building immediately afterwards.

The attack by an unmanned Predator aircraft was targeted at Hakimullah Mehsud, a commander in the Pakistani Taliban, a Pakistani intelligence official said. But he escaped the American missiles. "He wasn't there, but we wish he was," added the official.

The attack came a day after Baitullah Mehsud, the leader of the Pakistani Taliban, claimed responsibility for Monday's assault on a Lahore policy training facility in which eight police cadets and several militants were killed. Mehsud said the offensive had been in retaliation for Predator strikes

In recent months US forces have targeted al-Qaida and Taliban leaders in their hideouts, mostly in North and South Waziristan and Bajaur tribal agencies, using Predators armed with Hellfire missiles. Since last August an estimated 34 such attacks have killed about 340 people, including some senior commanders.

But the drones have also taken a heavy toll on Pakistani public opinion, causing widespread anger over a perceived breach of sovereignty. About 150 elders protested the strikes in the town of Tank, near South Waziristan yesterday.

The Pakistani government publicly denounces the drone strikes but provides tacit support for their execution, including the use of army bases inside the tribal areas by CIA agents.