Fifteen killed in suspected US-led strike on Pak village

Islamabad, Sept 4 (PTI) - At least 15 people, including
women and children, were killed in a suspected strike by
US-led forces Wednesday in a village in Pakistan's restive
northwestern tribal belt bordering Afghanistan.

The attack occurred before dawn, when three or four
helicopters of the NATO forces landed in Angoor Adda area of
South Waziristan Agency. US and Afghan troops emerged from the
helicopters, searched several houses and shot dead at least 15
people, witnesses said.

A Pakistan Army spokesman confirmed the attack but did
not say whether any foreign forces were involved in it.

Geo News channel reported that four helicopters of the
NATO forces landed in Angoor Adda and the coalition troops
launched a search operation.

The troops killed nine members of the family of a local
tribesman named Taj Muhammad after searching his home. They
also searched two more houses and killed five persons, the
channel reported. Reports suggested that five women and four
children were among the dead.

Local tribesmen later protested against the attack and
shouted anti-America slogans.

The US-led forces and the Afghan government have
described Pakistan's tribal areas as a "safe haven" for Al
Qaida and Taliban. South Waziristan is the stronghold of
Baitullah Mehsud, the chief of the Pakistani Taliban that was
recently banned by the government.

US-led forces are believed to have carried out several
missile strikes on Taliban hideouts in tribal areas in the
past few months, described by Pakistan as a violation of
its sovereignty.

Eleven Pakistani security personnel were killed in an air
and ground strike by coalition forces earlier this year. PTI