Suspected US missile kills 3 in Pakistan

MIR ALI, Pakistan — Pakistani intelligence officials say a suspected U.S missile strike has killed three people close to the Afghan border.

Two officers say the missile late Monday hit a compound near Mir Ali town in the North Waziristan tribal region.

The officers spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to release the information.

The United States has fired scores of missiles from unmanned drones into the tribal regions since last year in a campaign targeting al-Qaida and Taliban commanders.

THIS IS A BREAKING NEWS UPDATE. Check back soon for further information. AP’s earlier story is below.

DERA ISMAIL KHAN, Pakistan (AP) — A roadside bomb killed two Pakistani soldiers Monday in a militant stronghold near the Afghan border, intelligence and army officials said.

Two soldiers also were wounded when the bomb went off near the convoy traveling from Shakai to Wana, the main town in South Waziristan tribal region, the three officials said. The officials, two of whom work for Pakistani intelligence, requested anonymity because they were not authorized to release the information to media.

Pakistan has deployed thousands of troops in its northwest to flush out Taliban and al-Qaida and their local supporters. The militants are suspected of using Pakistan as a safe haven to plan attacks on Western troops in Afghanistan.

South Waziristan for months has been a focus of Pakistani air strikes and U.S. missile strikes. A CIA missile strike in August killed Pakistani Taliban chief Baitullah Mehsud.

Elsewhere in the northwest, Pakistan’s army is engaged in operations against the Taliban in the Swat Valley. Although most of the around 2 million people displaced in the four-month-old offensive have returned home, the valley is not yet back to normal.

In a statement Monday, the army warned Swat residents to remain vigilant after six people impersonating soldiers searched a house and looted money and other valuables.

The impersonation of security officers has been a major concern since a July 31 suicide bombing in Swat’s main city, Mingora, that may have involved an attacker wearing a police uniform. That attack killed 17 cadets at a police station.