US Drone Strike Kills At Least 24 in Kurram

Last Updated 3/13/09 12:30 PM EST

At least 24 people were killed today when four missiles fired from US drones hit a residential building in Barjo, Kurram Agency. Local officials characterized the building as a “militant hideout” and said it had been completely destroyed.

One security official said that those killed were “mainly Afghan Taliban,” and that the facility was run “by local Taliban commander Fazal Saeed and training was underway at the time of the strike.” Militants cordoned off the area and have been retrieving bodies from the rubble. Officials say no “high-value” targets were believed to be among those killed

It was the second major US attack on the Kurram Agency in less than a month: in mid-February an attack killed 31 people including an alleged commander named Bahram Khan Kochi. The Obama Administration was reported earlier this week to be planning a dramatic escalation of the number and intensity of the US strikes into Pakistan.