Suspected US missile strike kills 3

DERA ISMAIL KHAN, Pakistan - A suspected U.S. missile strike on a car killed two alleged militants and a civilian in northwestern Pakistan on Wednesday, intelligence officials said, a day after the U.S.-allied country reiterated its opposition to such attacks to visiting American officials.

The suspected strike indicates the Obama administration is unlikely to give up a
Bush-era tactic American officials say has killed a string of al-Qaida operatives, even if it strains the relationship with Islamabad.

The attack came as residents elsewhere in Pakistan’s northwest tried to push out a group of Taliban militants who ventured into their territory from their stronghold in the Swat Valley and killed five people.

Meanwhile, police announced the arrest of five men alleged to be planning suicide attacks on the city of Karachi.

The latest suspected missile strike occurred near Wana, the main town in the South Waziristan tribal region, according to two local intelligence officials.

A drone had been flying over the area, and the missile landed after people in the car fired at the aircraft, the officials said, citing informants and agents in the field.

The attack also damaged some shops in the village of Shin Warsak, wounding at least five villagers and killing one, they said.