US drone missiles kill at least 10 in Pakistan

U.S. drone aircraft fired two missiles into a Taliban compound in Pakistan's North Waziristan region on the Afghan border on Sunday, killing at least 10 militants, Pakistani security officials said.

The strike took place in Inzarkas village, 50 kilometers (31 miles) west of Miranshah, the main town in North Waziristan tribal district, known as a hub for Taliban and al-Qaeda linked militants.

"The missiles struck a militant compound in the village, killing at least 10 rebels," a senior Pakistani security official in the area told AFP on condition of anonymity.

It was the second drone missile strike on militants in northwest Pakistan since a failed bid to set off a car bomb in New York's Time Square last weekend.

Pakistan publicly objects to attacks by CIA pilotless aircraft, saying they are a violation of its sovereignty and fuel anti-U.S. feelings, which complicate Pakistan's efforts against militancy.

Unofficially, however, analysts say Pakistan is cooperating with the United States in identifying at least some of the militant targets attacked by the drones.

Last Monday, three militants were killed in a similar strike in North Waziristan.

The previous day, Pakistani Taliban chief Hakimullah Mehsud, who was reported to have been killed in a drone strike in January, appeared in Internet videos threatening suicide strikes in the United States.

Last year, a drone killed Pakistani Taliban chief Baituallah Mehsud, who was accused of assassinating former prime minister Benazir Bhutto, in South Waziristan near the Afghan border.

The United States, struggling to stabilize Afghanistan, stepped up its missile strikes in Pakistan's northwest after a Jordanian suicide bomber killed seven CIA employees at a U.S. base across the border in the eastern Afghan province of Khost in December.

More than 900 people have been killed in over 100 drone strikes in Pakistan since August 2008.

The missiles struck a militant compound in the village, killing at least 10 rebels

Pakistani security official

Meeting with Taliban leaders

Pakistan is investigating whether a Pakistani-American arrested over a botched plot to bomb New York's Times Square met Pakistani Taliban leaders in their stronghold in the northwest, Interior Minister Rehman Malik said on Saturday.

Pakistani investigators were trying to verify information provided by the United States that the suspect, Faisal Shahzad, 30, had visited South Waziristan, he said.

The Pakistani Taliban last Sunday claimed responsibility for the attempted car bomb attack the previous day, but a spokesman for the militants on Thursday denied links with Shahzad.

U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton said ally Pakistan had been cooperating on the investigation.

But she also said the United States had warned Pakistan of "severe consequences" if a successful attack in America was traced back to Pakistan.