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Suspected US Drone Strike Kills 12 Pakistan's South Waziristan

   Attacks  in  Pakistan's  southern Shaktoi area have become a source of
   friction between the U.S. and Pakistan, which sees them as a violation
   of its sovereignty

   VOA News 17 January 2010
   Undated  handout  photo  provided by U.S. Air Force shows MQ-9 Reaper,
   armed  with  GBU-12  Paveway  II  laser  guided  munitions and AGM-114
   Hellfire missiles

Photo: AP

   Undated  handout  photo  provided by U.S. Air Force shows MQ-9 Reaper,
   armed  with  GBU-12  Paveway  II  laser  guided  munitions and AGM-114
   Hellfire missiles

   Pakistani  officials  say  a  suspected  U.S. drone missile strike has
   killed at least 15 militants.  Authorities say the toll could rise.
   Sunday's  attack  took place in the Shaktoi area of Pakistan's restive
   South Waziristan region.
   The  pilotless  drone  strikes  are  a  source of friction between the
   United  States  and  Pakistan,  which  sees them as a violation of its
   sovereignty.   But  Washington  says  they  are an effective weapon in
   remote tribal areas.
   Pakistani Taliban militants issued a new audio recording Saturday they
   said proved their leader, Hakimullah Mehsud, survived a suspected U.S.
   missile strike earlier in the week.
   Pakistani  intelligence  sources  had  said  Mehsud was wounded in the
   missile strike that killed at least 12 suspected militants.
   The United States has increased attacks using pilotless drones since a
   suicide  bomber  killed  seven  U.S.  intelligence  agents  in eastern
   Afghanistan in late December.

   Some information for this report was provided by AFP and Reuters.

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