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Miran Shah: Missiles destroyed the house of a suspected militant leader yesterday in a Pakistani tribal area near the Afghan border, killing many, witnesses and state-run media reported.
The Pakistani military said five or six explosions were heard near Wana, the main town in South Waziristan, but it could not confirm the cause. There were casualties, but it was unclear how many, said Maj. Gen. Athar Abbas, an army spokesman.
An AP report quoting witnesses put the toll at 20 but another report quoting intelligence officials put the toll at nine. State-run Pakistan Television said seven missiles were involved in yesterday's strike in a tribal area of South Waziristan.
Three foreigners, an Arab and two Turkmen, were among those killed, according to an intelligence official. Maj. Chris Belcher, a US military spokesman in Afghanistan, said coalition forces conducted an operation yesterday in Paktika province, which lies just across the border from South Waziristan.
A local tribesman in the area said he saw unmanned drones overhead just before the attack. At least two hit and destroyed the home of a local militant leader and Taliban sympathiser who goes by the single name Noorullah, Rahim Khan said. Khan said the house - a huge, fortress-like compound - was known as a hub for visiting foreign militants. Taliban supporters immediately surrounded the area.
Illegal stay
Three saudis expelled
Three Saudi nationals who were "illegally staying in troubled areas" in Pakistan were expelled by the authorities and returned to Saudi Arabia, the Saudi Interior Ministry said in a statement yesterday.
The statement, carried by the official Saudi Press Agency, said two of the three had already contacted the Saudi embassy in Pakistan "expressing readiness to return home and give themselves up".
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