MIRANSHAH, Pakistan — Numerous missiles fired from US drones on Tuesday killed at least ten militants in a village in Pakistan's northwest tribal region near the Afghan border, security officials said.

"Up to eight US drones fired some 18 missiles at multiple militant targets in Datta khel village," a senior security official told AFP.

"Ten militants were killed in the missile strikes," the official said.

Local administration and intelligence officials confirmed the deaths after the volley of strikes reportedly struck militant hideouts and a training centre in three places in the village.

Residents in Miranshah, the main town of North Waziristan tribal district, said that they saw the drones flying overhead and heard the explosions from Datta khel, 40 kilometres (25 miles) west of the town.

North Waziristan is a known base for insurgents belonging to the Taliban and Haqqani networks, blamed for staging attacks on US and NATO troops in Afghanistan.

A series of drone strikes, which fuel anti-American sentiment in the nuclear-armed Muslim nation, have hit the northwest this month.

A number of US strikes in early January are reported to have targeted Pakistani Taliban leader Hakimullah Mehsud, but he then dispelled rumours of his death in an audio recording, also vowing revenge for the drone programme.

Speculation about his death surfaced after a January 14 strike in the Shaktoi area of North Waziristan, but Mehsud purportedly released two audio statements denying his demise.

On January 17, a day after Mehsud's last statement, a US drone carried out another attack that officials said also targeted the militant leader.

2 Feb, 2010

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