US missile strike kills seven in Pakistan

A US missile strike killed seven rebels in an attack targeting a compound in Pakistan's restive tribal region near the Afghan border on Monday, security officials said. The strike occurred in Shalam Raghzai, 10 kilometres northwest of Wana, the main town in South Waziristan tribal region in the early hours. The attack came just three days after a US drone strike that local officials said likely killed a senior Al Qaida commander Ilyas Kashmiri, one of the network's most feared operational leaders.  "A US drone targeting a compound near a religious seminary fired two missiles killing seven militants," a senior security official in the area told AFP on condition of anonymity. Another security official confirmed the strike and toll but said "the identities of those killed in the strike were not immediately known". The site of the latest attack was around 10 kilometres south of the Ghwakhwa area where Kashmiri was reported killed. Kashmiri has a US bounty of $5 million on his head and Pakistani officials said he was the target of Friday's drone strike, in which nine members of his banned group died. The 47-year-old has been blamed for a string of high-profile attacks on Western targets, as well as in India and Pakistan. From / Gulf News