DERA ISMAIL KHAN, Pakistan (Reuters) – A U.S. drone strike killed at least seven people on Monday in a tribal region along Pakistan's western border, Pakistani officials said, the first such attack in a month as a diplomatic feud strains U.S.-Pakistani ties.
At least four missiles were fired from the unmanned aircraft at a suspected militant training center in Azam Warsak, just west of Wana, the main town in the South Waziristan tribal agency, intelligence officials in South Waziristan said.
"According to initial reports there were foreigners among the dead," one of the officials said.
A second official said the foreign nationals killed included three people from Turkmenistan and two Arab nationals.
It is the first time since January 23 that intelligence officials have reported a U.S. drone attack, marking a resumption of a campaign that has become the centerpiece of U.S. efforts to halt militants launching attacks on its soldiers in Afghanistan.
Many analysts believe Washington halted the attacks for weeks to avoid further inflaming anti-American fury in Pakistan just as it pressures Islamabad to release Raymond Davis, a U.S. consulate employee imprisoned after shooting two Pakistanis last month in what he said was an attempted robbery.
Others speculate the pause was due to poor weather or an inability to find reliable targets as militants hunt down Pakistanis they believe are feeding intelligence information.
Washington, which provides Pakistan with billions of dollars a year in military and civilian aid, is leaning hard on the government of President Asif Ali Zardari to release Davis on grounds the U.S. national is shielded by diplomatic immunity.
Yet neither can the government afford to unleash popular fury in a case that has galvanized anti-American sentiment in Pakistan. Protesters have burned U.S. flags and demanded the Davis be tried for murder in local courts.
The drone strikes, which are not publically acknowledged by either country, are another delicate situation for the vulnerable Zardari government, battling an insurgency of its own and struggling to hold together a fragile coalition.
The attacks are seen as a risk and a necessity for Pakistan, under pressure its chief ally in the West to do against militants but also facing mounting resentment from Pakistanis who decry the government for bowing to U.S. wishes.
There is also debate over the effectiveness of the strikes. While the drone strikes have killed al Qaeda and Taliban figures, many of senior militants are living in cities like Quetta or Karachi that Pakistan has made off-limits to strikes.
(Additional reporting by Augustine Anthony in ISLAMABAD; writing by Missy Ryan; Editing by Chris Allbritton and Sanjeev Miglani)
