ISLAMABAD – An apparent U.S. missile strike destroyed an Islamic school in an al-Qaida stronghold in northwestern Pakistan on Saturday, killing 12 people including two suspected foreign militants, officials said.
The attack came as Pakistan's army prepared to assail Taliban militants entrenched in the main town in the Swat Valley, from where nearly a million civilians have fled a military offensive against Taliban guerrillas.
Another face of the violence roiling the region was evident Saturday when a bomb exploded in the city of Peshawar, killing nine civilians including three children riding in a school bus, police said. Another 25 people were injured.
American forces have maintained a bombardment of militant targets in the lawless Pakistani regions bordering Afghanistan while pressing Islamabad to tackle Taliban-held regions further inland.
Pakistani officials said several missiles hit the school and a nearby vehicle Saturday morning in Mir Ali, a town in the North Waziristan tribal region.
Two intelligence officials, citing reports from agents in the field, said at least 12 people were killed, including two foreign militants, and dozens more were wounded.
The identity of the victims was not immediately clear, the officials said. They spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to speak publicly to the media.
President Barack Obama has identified the elimination of militant sanctuaries in Pakistan as critical if America is to eliminate al-Qaida and turn around its faltering war effort in Afghanistan. Pakistan's border region is considered the likely hiding place of al-Qaida chief Osama bin Laden.
Using unmanned aircraft, American forces have carried out dozens of missile attacks in northwestern Pakistan over the past year. U.S. officials rarely confirm the attacks, but say they have killed a string of al-Qaida commanders.
Pakistan's government has publicly protested the tactic, arguing that it kills too many civilians and undermines its efforts to turn tribal leaders away from hard-liners.
The Pakistan army this week rejected media reports that it was jointly controlling missions by U.S. drones over Pakistani territory. The civilian government has asked Washington to add drones to its latest military aid package.