U.S. Drones Kill at Least 10 With Missiles in Northwest Pakistan

By MATTHEW ROSENBERG

A barrage of missiles from U.S. drone aircraft ripped into an area of northwest Pakistan where the Taliban and al Qaeda dominate, killing at least 10 people hours after the Pakistani Taliban again denied rumors of its leader's demise.

The sheer number of missiles fired in Tuesday's strike—a Pakistani intelligence official and witnesses estimated 16 to 18 were launched—appeared to be the most employed in a single attack since the U.S. first began using drone aircraft to target militants in Pakistan six years ago.

The attack was the latest salvo in what has become a torrent of U.S. missile strikes in and around the North Waziristan tribal area of Pakistan in the weeks since an al Qaeda double agent killed seven agents and contractors of the Central Intelligence Agency in a suicide bombing at a U.S. base in a neighboring region of Afghanistan.

U.S. and Pakistani officials say they believe the Dec. 30 suicide attack was plotted from North Waziristan, a hub for the Afghan Taliban and its Pakistani offshoot. Al Qaeda is also active in the region, these officials say. The Afghan-Pakistan border is porous, and militants often move freely between the countries.

Tuesday's attack targeted a number of compounds and bunkers used by Taliban fighters in a North Waziristan village near the Afghan border. Two people who live in the village said vehicles were also destroyed, although they differed on whether the cars belonged to the militants or area residents.

The Pakistani intelligence official said at least 10 people died; the residents put the death toll as high as 20 and said the missile strike had set fires that were still smoldering in the village.

The CIA-operated armed drones are ordinarily used to go after top al Qaeda and Taliban militants, although U.S. officials almost never disclose the intended targets because the program is classified. It wasn't clear who was being targeted by such a heavy barrage Tuesday; Bill Roggio, whose Long War Journal Web site tracks drone attacks, said the strike involved the most missiles used in a single attack to date.

The area is a stronghold of a major Pakistan Taliban commander, Hafiz Gul Bahadur. North Waziristan is also a base for Sirajuddin Haqqani, who is among the most powerful Taliban commanders on either side of the border.

The leader of the Pakistan Taliban, Hakimullah Mehsud, is rumored to have succumbed to wounds sustained in a similar drone raid last month in North Waziristan.

The Taliban again denied those rumors Tuesday, saying he was alive but that they had no immediate plans to provide proof in the form of a video or a meeting with trusted journalists.

"We don't feel any need presently to release a video, but whenever we feel a need, we will do so," the Associated Press quoted Pakistani Taliban spokesman Azam Tariq as saying. "We are not going to fall prey to this trap and make our leader vulnerable to the spy network."

U.S. and Pakistani officials say they can't confirm Mr. Mehsud's fate and are investigating the rumors, which have been floating around for about a week.

There was similar uncertainty before the death of Mr. Mehsud's predecessor in a U.S. missile strike in August was confirmed. But, in that case, the speculation didn't drag on quite so long.

Mr. Mehsud has taken responsibility for a string of brazen terror attacks inside Pakistan, and he appeared in a posthumous video with the al Qaeda bomber behind the suicide attack that killed the CIA employees in December.

Few expect that his death would be a fatal blow to the Pakistan Taliban. Instead, they believe he would quickly be replaced, just as he was able to rapidly fill the shoes of his predecessor.

Write to Matthew Rosenberg at matthew.rosenberg@wsj.com