Qaeda militant among 32 killed in US strikes

MIRANSHAH: Suspected US missiles struck two deadly blows Friday killing 32 mainly al-Qaeda operatives and injuring a key Taliban commander here, officials said.

The two strikes within a few hours were the latest in series of attacks that have raised tensions between Washington and Islamabad.

In the first attack two missiles hit a pick-up truck and a house west of Mir Ali, killing 20 mainly Arab militants, officials said. They told AFP the strike targeted an al-Qaeda financial coordinator known as Abu Akasa Al-Iraqi and that there were unconfirmed local reports that he was among the dead.

Two further missiles fired by a suspected US drone at a militant hideout near Wana, killed 12 suspected rebels soon after, a senior security official said.

They included "foreigners", the official said - using the term by which security services refer to al-Qaeda operatives.

Officials said top Taliban commander Mullah Nazir was wounded in the strike. "Nazir sustained injuries and was rushed to a hospital by Taliban. We are not sure about the seriousness of injuries to him" a top security official told AFP. "In the two strikes the majority of those killed were al-Qaeda operatives and some Taliban local commanders."

"Some 20 militants were killed in the attack and most were Arabs. It was a successful strike," another security official told AFP on condition of anonymity, referring to the first attack. Local residents said the strike hit the house of a Pakistani tribesman named Amanullah Dawar. It was not immediately clear whether the house or the vehicle, a pick-up truck, was blown up first, officials said. - AFP