A suspected US missile strike has hit northwest Pakistan's tribal South
Waziristan region, where security forces are poised for an attack on a
Taliban commander, officials have said.
"A missile attack by a suspected US drone took place in rugged mountainous terrain in Neej Narai," said a Pakistani security official who did not want to be named as he was not authorised to speak to the media.
Another security official confirmed the strike and said casualties were feared, although the target was still unknown.
Neej Narai is on the outskirts of Makeen village, 60 kilometres (37 miles) northeast of Wana, the main town in South Waziristan. It is a known stronghold of most-wanted Pakistan Taliban chief Baitullah Mehsud.
Washington alleges Al-Qaeda and Taliban rebels who fled Afghanistan after the 2001 US-led invasion are holed up in South Waziristan, plotting attacks on Western targets, and Pakistan's army have vowed a military offensive there.
The US military does not, as a rule, confirm drone attacks, but its armed forces and the Central Intelligence Agency operating in Afghanistan are the only forces that deploy unmanned drones in the region.
SOURCE: AP
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