Pak lodges protest over US missile attack in tribal belt

Two missiles struck the compounds of a local Taliban commander and his cousin. Reports said Taliban fighters, including some foreigners, had gathered for a dinner when the attack was carried out.

Pakistan, which has repeatedly said its troops alone have the responsibility for acting against militants operating from its territory, lodged a protest with the tripartite commission comprising senior military officers and diplomats from the International Security Assistance Force, Afghanistan and Pakistan. This commission is the mechanism that addresses such complaints and meets whenever required.

Diplomatic sources told the Dawn newspaper that Pakistan will also take up the issue bilaterally with the US. Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani would speak to President George W Bush on the attack when he meets him on Sunday on the sidelines of the World Economic Forum on Middle East in Egypt.

Pakistani security officials have been unable to uncover much information about the attack as the site was cordoned off by the Taliban, who removed all the bodies. The brother of Khalid Umar, a Taliban commander from the Mohmand region, was among those killed, reports said.