AP: Residents Say Eight Killed in US Air Raids (Afghanistan)

[Charlie Brown]

http://cnews.canoe.ca/CNEWS/World/2006/01/07/1383174-ap.html

MIRAN SHAH, Pakistan (AP) - Assailants armed with rockets and assault rifles attacked a newly built checkpoint near the Afghan border in Pakistan before dawn Saturday, killing all eight security personnel, officials said.

Hours after the attack, an aircraft attacked a home belonging to a local cleric along the Pakistan-Afghan border, about 50 kilometres west of the checkpoint, killing eight people and wounding several others, local residents said.

The villagers said they suspected the U.S. military was involved in the assault.

Army spokesman Maj. Gen. Shaukat Sultan only confirmed the killings of security forces and refused to comment on the attack on the home, where nine others, including several women and children, were also injured.