﻿ US strikes kill up to 30 in Taliban heartland: army - Taipei
Times Thu, Jun 25, 2009 - Page 5　News List  US strikes kill up
to 30 in Taliban heartland: army   Between 20 and 30 people were
reported killed by US missile strikes deep inside Taliban
territory controlled by militant chief Baitullah Mehsud, the
Pakistan army spokesman said yesterday.  Drone aircraft, which
are only deployed by US forces in the region, hit Taliban
positions on Tuesday then struck as hundreds of people gathered
for a funeral in Mehsud’s northwest tribal stronghold of South
Waziristan.  But with the mountainous area on the Afghan border
out of reach of government forces, security officials and
Taliban militants have been giving widely differing death tolls,
with some saying up to 65 people were killed.  “We have initial
reports that are not confirmed but the casualties are somewhere
between 20 [and] 30,” military spokesman Major General Athar
Abbas said in Islamabad. “There were two attacks.”  Pakistani
security forces are readying