Taliban Spokesman Insists Only Civilians Were Killed
A US drone strike into the South Waziristan Agency of Pakistan’s Federally Administered Tribal Areas (FATA) struck a house in the village of Ladda, killing at least 14 people and wounding several others. The village was near last Wednesday’s drone strike, which officials claim killed TTP leader Baitullah Mehsud.
Pakistani officials say the house attacked today was a “militant hideout” or conversely a “training ground,” but a spokesman for an unnamed Taliban-style organization in the area insisted it was a civilian residence and only civilians were killed in the strike.
It was the first US attack in the region since last week’s strike, and the status of Baitullah Mehsud is still unknown. Pakistani and US officials insist they are certain he was killed, but they also claimed to be certain Hakimullah Mehsud, one of his aides, was killed in a battle days later. Hakimullah has since emerged to insisted that neither he nor Baitullah is actually dead.
TTP spokesman Maulvi Omar says that Baitullah is being held at an undisclosed relative’s house and that he is ill. Baitullah has diabetes and has sometimes been in failing health as a result.
Peace and Justice Post 
American drone strike killed 15 in Pakistan
June 13, 2010Irish Sun, Friday 11th June, 2010
(IANS)
The toll in the US drone strike in Pakistan’s North Waziristan tribal area has risen to 15 while 10 were wounded in the incident Friday, media reports said.
The drone fired four missiles at a house in Datta Khel area, killing four people on the spot, Xinhua quoted a news channel as saying.
The injured were rushed to a hospital as 11 people succumbed to injuries later, the private Geo News channel reported, citing local sources. Several others were in critical condition.
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