U.S. Drone Kills Dozens Near Taliban Hideout in Pakistan

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ISLAMABAD, Pakistan July 8 -- For the second consecutive day, a U.S. spy plane pounded suspected Taliban targets in the South Waziristan region of Pakistan on Wednesday, killing dozens of people, according to a Pakistani security official and a local tribesman.

The official said the American drone fired four missiles on a Taliban hideout in Karwan Manza, a rural district in Pakistan's mountainous tribal districts along the border with Afghanistan, and close to the home territory of a top Taliban commander, Baitullah Mehsud.

The death toll, originally reported at nine people, quickly rose to 23, then 40, then as many as 45, according to wire services.

Mohammad Noor, a resident who lives nearby, said by telephone that the missiles hit a mud house believed to be used as a training center for Taliban fighters. The Taliban were keeping locals and officials away from the site of the bombing, Noor said. "The whole area is cordoned off," he said.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/07/08/AR2009070800651_pf.html