Officials say US missile strike kills 2 people militant-controlled part of NW Pakistan

Officials: US missile kills 2 in NW Pakistan

DERA ISMAIL KHAN, Pakistan — A suspected American missile strike killed two people Thursday in a militant-controlled region of northwest Pakistan.

U.S. drones routinely hit suspected militants in Pakistan’s tribal regions close to the Afghan border. The Obama administration regards the attacks as a vital weapon in the fight against al-Qaida and related Islamist extremist groups.

The latest attack took place close to Mir Ali in North Waziristan, which is near the Afghan border and largely controlled by militants.

Tribesman Zarawar Khan said the two victims were sitting outside when the missile hit. Government official Mohammad Nawaz confirmed the attack. Their identities were not known.

U.S. missiles have killed many hundred people since they began in earnest in 2008. Many have been identified by Pakistani officials after the strikes as suspected militants. There have also been many accounts of civilian deaths. Washington does not acknowledge firing the missiles.

Pakistan’s shaky government publicly opposes the strikes to prevent domestic critics from accusing it of conspiring with United States in killing its own citizens. But it is widely believed to provide intelligence assistance in at least some of the strikes.

The drones either take off from bases across the border in Afghanistan or reportedly from secret bases within Pakistan.

Also Thursday, police say a roadside bomb killed one person and wounded three in the southern port city of Karachi.

Police official Iqbal Mahmood said the bomb exploded in a parking area near a neighborhood where many naval officers reside. The motive was not immediately clear.

Pakistan Navy spokesman Mohammed Salman confirmed the bomb but dismissed the notion that the naval colony was targeted.

Karachi is Pakistan’s largest city, with more than 16 million residents. It has a long history of political, ethnic and religious violence, and is believed to be a hide-out for Taliban and al-Qaida leaders.

Associated Press Writer Ashraf Khan contributed to this report from Karachi.