Pakistani secuirty forces officers walk over debris of houses in Sultanwas, Buner, Pakistan on... 
(AP)
A suspected U.S. missile strike hit a Taliban communication center in the country's northwest late Friday, killing at least three people and wounding three more, intelligence officials said.
The attack was the fifth in two weeks by attributed to American unmanned drone aircraft targeting Pakistani Taliban leader Baitullah Mehsud and his network of militants.
Three intelligence officials said the drone fired a pair of missiles at the communication center in the Painda Khel region of South Waziristan. The officials spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to speak to the media.
South Waziristan is part of the lawless tribal region along Pakistan's border with Afghanistan, and top Taliban and al-Qaida leaders are believed to be hiding there, helping plot attacks on American troops across the border.
Independent verification of the attack was not possible because the region is remote, dangerous and largely inaccessible to journalists.
Pakistan's army is also deploying troops in South Waziristan and launching regular airstrikes of its own to try to kill or capture Mehsud, who is blamed for orchestrating many of the bloodiest suicide attacks in Pakistan.
The United States is believed to have launched more than 40 missile strikes against targets in the border area since last August, according to a count by The Associated Press. Washington does not directly acknowledge launching the missiles, which have killed civilians as well as militants and have contributed to anti-U.S. sentiment in Pakistan.
Pakistan has in the past protested the missile strikes as a violation of its sovereignty and has publicly asked the U.S. to give them the drone technology to launch its own attacks. But many analysts suspect that the government — which has received billions of dollars in American aid since 2001 — secretly cooperates with Washington on the strikes.
