Pakistani Officials: Suspected US Missile Kills 9

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Source: AP

MIR ALI, Pakistan — An apparent U.S. missile attack destroyed a suspected militant compound in a tribal region of northwestern Pakistan on Tuesday, killing at least nine people, intelligence officials said.

It was not immediately clear who was targeted in the strike, in the Datta Khel region of North Waziristan, the two officials said on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to talk to the media. An unknown number of people were injured.

The area is the home of Hafiz Gul Bahadur, a powerful warlord whose fighters are battling U.S. and NATO forces in Afghanistan.

The CIA has stepped up missile strikes on militant positions in Pakistan's tribal regions since December, when a suicide bomber killed seven CIA employees in neighboring Afghanistan.

Pakistan publicly criticizes the U.S. missile attacks, saying they violate its sovereignty and fuel more anti-Americanism among the population, but Islamabad is widely believed to be sharing intelligence with the Americans on at least some of the strikes.

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