Three strikes were reported just days after Pakistani officials said they believed senior Al-Qaeda commander Ilyas Kashmiri had died in a similar attack late Friday, also in South Waziristan which borders Afghanistan.
Washington has called Pakistan`s semi-autonomous northwest tribal region the most dangerous place on Earth and the global headquarters of Al-Qaeda, where Taliban and other Al-Qaeda-linked networks have carved out strongholds.
The first strike killed seven militants in the early hours in Shalam Raghzai, 10 kilometres (six miles) northwest of Wana, the district`s main town.
A second struck a compound in Wacha Dana, 12 kilometres northwest of Wana, killing eight militants, Pakistani officials said.
The third hit eight hours later in the Dray Nishtar area, which lies on the border with North Waziristan at 10:45 am (0545 GMT), about 30 kilometres from the site of the other two raids.
"A US drone fired two missiles on a militant vehicle killing three rebels," a senior Pakistani security official told AFP of the third attack.
Another official warned the death toll could rise. The combined toll of 18 made Monday`s drone strikes the deadliest reported in Pakistan since a salvo of US missiles killed at least 35 people on March 17.
Five central Asian militants and eight Punjabi militants were among those killed, security officials said.
US drones have reportedly carried out 12 strikes in Pakistan`s tribal belt since US commandos killed Al-Qaeda founder Osama bin Laden in a raid in the garrison city of Abbottabad on May 2.
Pakistan is on the frontline of the US-led war on the Taliban and Al-Qaeda, and bomb attacks across the country have killed more than 4,400 people in the last four years -- blamed on militants opposed to the government`s US alliance. (*)
Editor: Kunto Wibisono
Copyright © ANTARA 2011
