By DPA
Islamabad : Up to 13 people were believed killed Thursday in a pre-dawn missile strike on suspected Al Qaeda militants in northwest Pakistan, a local witness and media reports said.
The missile, possibly fired by a pilotless US military plane, struck a house where the militants were presumed to have taken shelter in Kaloshah village in South Waziristan district around 2 a.m., Khanzada, a local resident said.
“I heard the explosion and rushed to the scene, where some people told me it was a missile fired from an American plane, but we didn’t see it,” he said, adding that two other missiles missed their target and landed on a nearby field.
“Most of these people who were killed were of Arab origin,” he said, adding that he saw nine torched bodies at the blast site.
DawnNews TV reported that 13 Arabs were killed in the attack and that the house was connected to a local religious school.
At least seven people were injured in the strike, which created a massive explosion in the village, DawnNews said.
Taliban, Al Qaeda militants and other armed Islamic groups are active in the tribal areas, including in Kaloshah village, Khanzada said.
Militant commander Baitullah Mehsud, who heads an umbrella organization of Pakistani Taliban groups and is blamed for a suicide bombing campaign across Pakistan, is based in South Waziristan.