Suspected US strike kills 12 in Pakistan

A suspected US missile strike on Monday destroyed an Afghan Taliban camp in northwest Pakistan, killing 12 a day after the militants' local affiliates announced a ceasefire, officials said.

At least one missile fired by a suspected drone struck the Taliban compound in Bhagan, a mountain stronghold for the hardline movement which is waging a fierce insurgency across the border in Afghanistan.

"One missile fired by a suspected US drone destroyed the Taliban centre," a top Pakistani security official told AFP.

"There are 12 dead," said another security official. An earlier estimate put the death toll at 10.

It was the first suspected US drone attack in Kurram, one of seven semi-autonomous tribal areas in Pakistan on the border with Afghanistan, where the Taliban are fighting US-led, Nato and Western-backed Afghan forces.

An intelligence official said there were multiple Taliban camps in the area, and that Afghan Taliban fighters had used the Bhagan compound as a hideout.

One security official said at least four foreigners were killed. Another official said most of those killed where Afghan Taliban.

The latest missile attack underscored vanished hopes in Pakistan that the administration of US President Barack Obama would review the policy and abandon what Islamabad has called a violation of its sovereignty.