Suspected US drone attack kills at least fourteen in Pakistan

January 14, 2010A drone attack, suspected to have been made by US forces, killed at least twelve people and injured a further fourteen in northwestern Pakistan earlier today, although some reports put the death toll as high as eighteen. The attack hit a militant training camp on the border between Pakistan's and  tribal region.

Pakistani officials, speaking on condition of anonymity, said they believe the target was leader ; however, it was not immediately clear whether Mehsud was killed.

"We had information that he [Mehsud] was around there. We're checking on whether he was killed," said an unnamed official.

A spokesman for the Taliban, however, told Pakistan's Dawn TV that Mehsud had left a few minutes before the strike, and was still alive and safe.

It is, however, difficult to verify such claims, as the area is largely autonomous and believed to be a sanctuary for al-Qaeda and Taliban members. Suspected US missile strikes in Pakistan's northwest have killed several rebel leaders, including the previous head of the Pakistani Taliban,, in mid-2009.