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Suspected US drone strike kills four in Pakistan: officials
Miranshah, Pakistan (AFP) Oct 1, 2008 A missile strike by a suspected US spy drone hit a house in a Pakistani tribal area bordering Afghanistan, killing at least four people and wounding nine, security officials said Wednesday. The attack is the latest in a string of incidents on the rugged frontier that have raised tensions between Islamabad and Washington, including a clash between Pakistani troops and US-led forces in Afghanistan. It happened shortly after Pashtun tribesmen shot at three drones circling the village of Khusali Toorikhel in North Waziristan, a known haunt of Taliban and Al-Qaeda militants. "After the drones came under fire a missile hit a house in the village. We have four dead now and another nine people were injured," a local security official told AFP on condition of anonymity. The United States has stepped up attacks on militants in Pakistani territory since a new civilian government came to power in March and the incidents have become an issue in the US presidential election. Washington said Monday it supports Pakistan's "territorial integrity" amid the tensions between the two allies in the "war on terror". The US government presented the stand in a joint statement with Pakistan following talks in Washington between US Deputy Secretary of State John Negroponte and Pakistan's Foreign Minister Shah Mehmood Qureshi. "The United States affirmed its support for Pakistan's sovereignty, independence, unity, and territorial integrity," according to the joint statement issued by the State Department. Pakistan's President Asif Ali Zardari has vowed zero tolerance against violations of Pakistan's sovereignty amid stepped up US missile strikes into apparent militant safe havens in Pakistan's tribal areas. Relations have also been strained by a raid by US special operations forces into Pakistan on September 3 which killed several Pakistanis. Last Thursday, Pakistani and US troops exchanged fire along the border after two US military helicopters came under fire, a US military spokesman said. Though both sides played down the incident later, Pakistan contended that the US helicopters had entered Pakistani territory while the United States argued they had not left Afghanistan. A suspected US drone crashed in the neighbouring tribal area of South Waziristan last week. Tribesmen said they fired at it but the Pakistani military said a malfunction was to blame. Community Email This Article Comment On This Article Share This Article With Planet Earth
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