US missiles kill 18

Suspected US missiles struck two vehicles in a Taliban stronghold in North Waziristan on Monday, killing 18 alleged militants, Pakistani intelligence official said. The attack in the North Waziristan tribal region came in the final days of a year that has witnessed an unprecedented number of such strikes from drone aircraft flying over Pakistani soil, part of a ramped-up US campaign to take out al Qaida and Taliban fighters seeking sanctuary outside Afghanistan.
The six missiles fired Monday struck the vehicles in the Shera Tala village of North Waziristan. Shera Tala lies in Mir Ali district, where militants are heavily concentrated. The exact identities of the 18 dead were not immediately certain. The vehicles were apparently leaving a compound, and one was carrying a large load of ammunition, magnifying the blasts from the missile strikes, the intelligence officials said. The three intelligence officials spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorised to speak to media on the record.