Was It a Missile Strike That Hit a Terrorist Compound?

The explosions that destroyed a religious school compound near the Afghanistan border on Tuesday reportedly killed a number of al Qaeda followers from Uzbekistan.

There were conflicting accounts of whether the explosions, which reportedly killed more than 20 people, were the result of an accident during bomb making by the militants — the public claim by security officials — or were from a missile attack by U.S.-led forces operating in neighboring Afghanistan.

Intelligence sources in Pakistan said that a NATO aircraft hit the madrasah in the border area of North Waziristan based on the information about presence of senior al Qaeda figures, including Tahir Yuldashev, the head of Uzbek militants operating in Pakistan and Afghanistan. The tip came from a local informant, but the validity of the information cannot be determined until the authorities are able to identify those killed, sources said.

Officially, the Pakistan army spokesman, Maj. Gen. Arshad Waheed, said the explosions were not from military action. "Terrorists were engaged in making bombs there, which went off accidentally," he said.

However, Wazir Khan, a local tribesman, told U.S. News that missiles hit the madrasah, and he claimed that most of those killed were local tribesmen, not foreign militants. "A cluster of three houses and a tent was hit by a missile fired from across the border," he asserted.

But another local person, wishing not to be named, claimed that most of the casualties were Uzbeks who had fled from South Waziristan after a pro-government uprising against them. Some 2,500 to 3,000 militants are said to be hiding in North Waziristan, considered a stronghold for al Qaeda's Uzbek militants.

A U.S. military spokesman in Afghanistan said he was "not aware" of any reports of missiles being fired from Afghanistan into Pakistan by the U.S.-led military coalition, according to the Associated Press.

The United States has grown increasingly concerned about al Qaeda's safe havens in the Pakistan border region. More information is available in the article "A Resurgent Menace: U.S. spy agencies say al Qaeda's top leaders, once on the run, have regrouped."

— Aamir Latif in Pakistan