29 killed in US drone attack in Pakistan

suspected U.S missile strike destroyed a major Taliban training camp in Pakistan on Saturday, killing at least 29 mainly Al-Qaeda foreign operatives, security officials said. Two missiles fired by an unmanned drone struck the camp of top Taliban commander Baitullah Mehsud in the tribal area of Ladha near the Afghan border, they said, adding Mehsud was not in the camp at the time of the strike. Two Arabs, some local Taliban and a number of Uzbeks were killed in the strike, the latest in a series of such attacks, which have drawn strong protest from Pakistan. "The death toll in the twin missile strikes has jumped to 27," a senior security official told AFP, revising upward the earlier toll of 20. Mehsud heads the much feared Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) and is the country's most wanted militant, accused of plotting the 2007 assassination of former prime minister Benazir BhuttoBenazir Bhutto. Residents said Taliban militants surrounded the attack site, which was in an isolated area, and would not let anyone inside. The building was destroyed, and a number of bodies were buried in the rubble. The latest drone strike came despite Pakistan's hopes the U.S. administration of President Obama would review the policy and abandon what Islamabad has called a violation of its sovereignty. Several Al-Qaeda operatives have been killed in similar U.S. missile strikes in the past year. But the strikes have fueled anti-American sentiments in Pakistan and particularly in the tribal belt, where Washington says Al-Qaeda and Taliban sanctuaries exist. The lawless tribal areas in northwest Pakistan have been wracked by violence since hundreds of Taliban and Al-Qaeda rebels sought refuge in the region after the U.S.-led invasion of Afghanistan toppled the Taliban regime in late 2001.