Missile strike kills up to 20 militants

A suspected U.S. drone fired missiles today into a Pakistani region on the Afghan border, killing up to 20 militants, officials said, and as many as 30 people were killed in a battle between tribesmen and Taliban fighters elsewhere.

“Two missiles were fired. They hit two houses in Shakai,” said a Pakistani intelligence official, referring to an area in South Waziristan that is a stronghold of Pakistani Taliban leader Baitullah Mahsud. The Pentagon said it had no information on a drone strike.

In Swat, hundreds of Taliban fighters beheaded a tribal militia member before a large crowd, and the militia then engaged the Taliban in an hours-long gun battle, police said. Twenty Taliban, six militiamen and four bystanders were reported killed.