Tribe: U.S., Not Pakistan, Hit Village (AP)

[Eugene]

Tribe: U.S., Not Pakistan, Hit Village

By ISHTIAQ MAHSUD
The Associated Press
Friday, January 19, 2007; 9:13 AM

ZAMZOLA, Pakistan -- Tribesmen from a Pakistani mountain village where an airstrike
hit a suspected al-Qaida hideout claimed Friday that missiles were fired from an
American plane and denied the dead were terrorists.

Locals were still digging through the rubble of homes destroyed in the Tuesday airstrike
of Zamzola village in South Waziristan where Pakistan's army says its helicopter gunships
killed eight suspected militants.

"This is a pack of lies," said Jalandhar Khan, 40, holding a shovel near the ruins of a
neighbor's ruined house. "There was no al-Qaida man. Those killed or injured in this attack
by America were innocent woodcutters."

Reporters were taken to Zamzola, a remote village located in a forest about two miles from
the Afghan border, by supporters of Baitullah Mehsud, a local militant leader who has vowed
to avenge the airstrike.

-snip-

Full article: http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/01/19/AR2007011900472.html

Related thread: Pakistani Army Kills Suspected Terrorists in Raids

[Eugene]

1. U.S. drone attack? It was us, says Pakistan army (Reuters)

U.S. drone attack? It was us, says Pakistan army

2 hours, 39 minutes ago

SALAMAT GHUNDI, Pakistan (Reuters) - Defending its credibility, Pakistan's military
on Friday rebutted claims that a U.S. Predator drone aircraft carried out the initial
attack on a suspected Al Qaeda hideout earlier this week.

On Tuesday, its spokesman said army helicopter gunships struck a cluster of compounds
where up to 30 Taliban and al Qaeda fighters were based in South Waziristan, a rugged
tribal area where support for the Afghan insurgency runs deep.

Not true, according to villagers at Salamat Ghundi.

They said a U.S. drone's missiles destroyed the compounds, and Pakistan helicopter
gunships mopped up by firing rockets.

-snip-

Full article: http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20070119/wl_nm/pakistan_usa_dc

Villagers are pointing to an unexploded missile to back up their version of the the attack.