Missile strike kills 4 in Pakistan

Militants' ambush of anti-Taliban elders' convoy slays 9, police say

Armed members of a private militia patrol with army troops Thursday in Kanju near Mingora, the main town of Pakistan's troubled Swat Valley.
Armed members of a private militia patrol with army troops Thursday in Kanju near Mingora, the main town of Pakistan's troubled Swat Valley.

— A suspected U.S. missile strike killed four people in northwestern Pakistan late Thursday, intelligence officials said.

Such strikes have killed high-ranking militant commanders, including Pakistani Taliban chief Baitullah Mehsud, but have also killed civilians and drawn protest from Pakistani leaders.

Two intelligence officials said the strike occurred near the town of Mir Ali in North Waziristan tribal region close to the Afghan border. They spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to speak to reporters.

Despite Pakistani protests, Washington has shown no sign of abandoning the attacks. Many analysts believe Pakistani security agencies quietly provide intelligence for the strikes.

The border region provides Islamist militants with a safe haven from which they can stage attacks on foreign forces in Afghanistan. The mountainous, lawless area is also a breeding ground for the insurgents who launch near-daily attacks on Pakistan's U.S.-backed government and security forces.

Earlier Thursday, militants ambushed a convoy of prominent anti-Taliban tribal elders in the northwest, spraying their cars with gunfire and killing nine people, police said.

The members of the anti-Taliban citizens group were traveling from the Machikhel area to meet security officials in Bannu district when their three-vehicle convoy was attacked by insurgents, police officer Mohammad Ghani Khan said.

Pakistani authorities have urged tribal elders to speak out against the Taliban, and in turn the militants have killed scores of local leaders. With government backing, some elders have raised militias, known as lashkars, to battle the insurgents. The militias have been compared to Iraq's Awakening Councils, which helped U.S. forces turn the tide against al-Qaida there.

The ambush followed a separate attack by militants who killed two members of another anti-Taliban committee Thursday in the Swat Valley to the northeast. The assailants struck as members of the "peace committee" slept in the Sertelegram area, Mayor Mohammad Ibrar Khan said.

In the Swat region, thousands of armed citizens gathered at the Saidu Sharif airport, fearing a possible Taliban comeback after an army offensive that has driven themilitants back.

"This is our effort of selfhelp, and people turned up here with whatever weapon they have from a baton to an assault rifle and pistols. ... We will resist militants and guard our area for a lasting peace," Inamur Rehman, head of the Swat National Council, said.

A leader of the private militia will be chosen in the coming days, Rehman said.

"This is a welcome sign that people have risen to protect themselves and guard against the militants," army Brig. Salman Akber said, adding that security forces would assist the group.

Meanwhile, the Obama administration Thursday hailed a vote in the U.S. Senate to triple foreign aid to Pakistan.

Passage of the bill that will provide Pakistan with $1.5 billion in aid a year over the next five years coincided with a meeting in New York of major supporters of Pakistan cohelmed by President Barack Obama.

The timing was deliberate, according to the special representative for Afghanistan and Pakistan, Richard Holbrooke. He said Obama announced the vote to the meeting of the "Friends of Pakistan" held on the margins of the U.N. General Assembly.

"It was the only spontaneous applause in the meeting," Holbrooke told reporters afterward.

The House could pass the bill as early as today, clearing the way for Obama's signature and the provision of the assistance, which focuses on democratic, economic and social-development programs.

Information for this article was contributed by Zarar Khan, Hussain Afzal, Matthew Lee and Jim Abrams of The Associated Press.

Front Section, Pages 6 on 09/25/2009

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