Al Qaeda militant killed in US strike in Pakistan

A mid-level al Qaeda leader, identified as an Iraqi, was among up to 20 people killed yesterday in one of two US missile strikes in northwest Pakistan, Pakistani officials said.

One intelligence official identified the al Qaeda leader as Abu Akash. His real name was believed to be Abdur Rehman, another security official said.

"He was a mid-level al Qaeda man who was leading a high-profile life in Mir Ali," said the intelligence official, who declined to be identified, referring to the second biggest town in the north Waziristan region on the Afghan border.

Two missiles were fired by a pilotless drone aircraft into a house in Mir Ali, a major sanctuary for foreign Islamist militants including Arabs and Central Asians, another intelligence official said.

A witness said the house was ablaze after the strike. Between 15 and 20 people were believed to have been killed.

A short while later, another suspected US drone fired two missiles at a house in Wana, the main town in south Waziristan, another militant hide-out on the Afghan border.

Several militants were in the house for dinner at the time of the strike but there was no word on casualties, a district government official said.

US forces have stepped up attacks on militants in Pakistan in response to concern about worsening security in Afghanistan.

Since the beginning of September US drones have carried out about 15 such missile attacks on Pakistan's lawless ethnic Pashtun tribal lands on the Pakistani side of the border with Afghanistan.

US forces also launched a cross-border commando raid.

Scores of people have been killed but no senior al Qaeda or Taliban leaders have been reported to have died.

The strikes came two days after Pakistan summoned the US ambassador to protest against missile strikes and demand that they be stopped immediately.

Nuclear-armed US ally Pakistan is also battling militants on its side of the border, but it says cross-border US strikes undermine efforts to isolate the militants and rally public opinion behind the unpopular campaign against militancy.

The United States has shrugged off Pakistani protests. It says the attacks are needed to protect US troops in Afghanistan and kill Taliban and al Qaeda militants who threaten them.

A senior Pakistani security official said Abu Akash's real name was believed to be Abdur Rehman, although he was known to have used many aliases.

He was known as Akash Khan in Mir Ali where he had lived since before 2001 and had once been in charge of town traffic.

"He was an al Qaeda man but was not among the top hierarchy. He was involved in carrying out IED blasts in Afghanistan," said the security official, referring to improvised explosive devices, or roadside bombs. Earlier on Friday, a suicide bomber killed nine people in an attack on a police chief in the northwestern Pakistani town of Mardan, the latest in a series of bomb attacks.

The violence in Afghanistan and Pakistan has raised concern about both the US allies. In Pakistan, the violence has unnerved investors and compounded an economic crisis that looks set to force the country to agree to International Monetary Fund help.