A US missile attack killed at least 25 al Qaeda-linked militants in a Pakistani tribal region today, security and Taliban officials said, the highest death toll of militants in a single such strike.
The strike by pilotless drones in the South Waziristan region on the Afghan border was the third such attack since US President Barack Obama took office last month and could ignite fresh popular anger in Pakistan over the cross-border raids from Afghanistan.
The Taliban official said those killed were mostly Uzbek fighters.
"Our people have informed us that at least 25 people were killed. It could be more," the official said. A resident, who spoke on condition of anonymity for security reasons, said 25 to 30 people were killed.
A senior security official said there appeared to be no senior al Qaeda figure among the dead.
Missiles hit a sprawling house used by the militants as a training camp in the Zangari area in the South Waziristan region. Zangari is around 70 km north of the region's main town of Wana.
"Around 50 to 60 mujahideen have been living there for about a week. All of them were Uzbeks," the Taliban official added.
Intelligence officials confirmed the incident.
Reuters