U.S. Drones Kill at Least 10 With Missiles in Northwest Pakistan

The Largest Barrage of missiles ever fired in a drone Attack , 16 to 18 .

Let's hope that with that many Hellfire missiles being fired that some body in the top levels of either Al qaida or the Taliban , are taking a long Dirt Nap !



The Wall Street Journal
A barrage of missiles from U.S. drone aircraft ripped into an area of northwest Pakistan where the Taliban and al Qaeda dominate, killing at least 10 people hours after the Pakistani Taliban again denied rumors of its leader's demise.

The sheer number of missiles fired in Tuesday's strike—a Pakistani intelligence official and witnesses estimated 16 to 18 were launched—appeared to be the most employed in a single attack since the U.S. first began using drone aircraft to target militants in Pakistan six years ago.

The attack was the latest salvo in what has become a torrent of U.S. missile strikes in and around the North Waziristan tribal area of Pakistan in the weeks since an al Qaeda double agent killed seven agents and contractors of the Central Intelligence Agency in a suicide bombing at a U.S. base in a neighboring region of Afghanistan.

U.S. and Pakistani officials say they believe the Dec. 30 suicide attack was plotted from North Waziristan, a hub for the Afghan Taliban and its Pakistani offshoot. Al Qaeda is also active in the region, these officials say. The Afghan-Pakistan border is porous, and militants often move freely between the countries.

Tuesday's attack targeted a number of compounds and bunkers used by Taliban fighters in a North Waziristan village near the Afghan border. Two people who live in the village said vehicles were also destroyed, although they differed on whether the cars belonged to the militants or area residents.

The Pakistani intelligence official said at least 10 people died; the residents put the death toll as high as 20 and said the missile strike had set fires that were still smoldering in the village.