Pakistan Officials: Suspected US Strikes Kill 19

Pakistan's Interior Ministry Chief Rehman Malik, left, heads the meeting of ambassadors in...

Pakistan's Interior Ministry Chief Rehman Malik, left, heads the meeting of ambassadors in Islamabad, Pakistan, Friday, Sept. 26, 2008. Pakistan Interior Ministry met ambassadors and briefed them about security situation in the country. Last week Czech ambassador was killed in Marriott hotel bombing. U.S. ambassador to Pakistan Anne Patterson is seen at right. (AP Photo)

(AP)

Two suspected U.S. missile strikes Friday on villages close to the border with Afghanistan killed at least 19 people, most of them militants, Pakistani intelligence officials said.

American forces recently ramped up cross-border operations against Taliban and al-Qaida militants in Pakistan's border zone with Afghanistan — a region considered a likely hiding place for Osama bin Laden.

Two missiles believed to have been fired from U.S. unmanned drones launched from neighboring Afghanistan hit the villages in North Waziristan just before dusk, according to the officials who spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to speak to the media.

Chief Pakistani army spokesman Maj. Gen. Athar Abbas said officers were investigating the reported strikes, but could not confirm them. U.S. officials in Afghanistan or Washington rarely acknowledge the attacks.

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One attack in Mohammadkhel village west of of Miran Shah — the main town in North Waziristan tribal agency — killed at least 19 people, most of them alleged militants and some foreigners, the intelligence officials said, citing agents in the field.

There were no reported casualties in the other strike in the village of Khata Kaly, they said.

A senior army official confirmed the incident but asked not to be named due to policy reasons.

"Our ground agents have confirmed missile hit the compound in Mohammadkhel and killed about 19 people inside. Some were foreigners — six or seven — and the rest were local Taliban militants."

Earlier this week, officials said that a suspected U.S. missile strike on a Taliban commander's home in Pakistan killed six people late Tuesday.

Pakistan says the attacks often result in civilian casualties and serve to fan extremism. American officials complain that Pakistan was unwilling or unable to act against the militants, straining ties between the two anti-terror allies.