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Drone Strike Kills 3 Militants in Pakistan


Officials in Pakistan say a suspected U.S. drone fired two missiles into a militant compound in the country's northwest, killing three insurgents.

The pilotless aircraft struck Thursday in a village near North Waziristan's main town of Miranshah, a stronghold for al-Qaida and Taliban militants.

Elsewhere, Pakistani authorities say a bomb blast killed at least 29 people near a mosque in the Khyber region near the Afghan border.

Pakistani officials say Thursday's bombing may have been due to rivalry among militants. They say the blast apparently targeted the commander of an Islamist group, Lashkar-e-Islam, based in the area.

In the capital Islamabad, U.S. special representative Richard Holbrooke had separate meetings with Pakistani Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani and opposition leader Nawaz Sharif.

Ambassador Holbrooke later heads to five Central Asian nations on his first trip to the region as U.S. special representative to Afghanistan and Pakistan.

The State Department announced Wednesday that Holbrooke will visit Kyrgyzstan, Uzbekistan, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan and Kazakhstan.

Meanwhile, an avalanche has pummeled a village in the Kohistan region of northwestern Pakistan, killing at least 36 people.

Rescue workers have been digging into the snow and rubble in hopes of finding survivors. They also are trying to clear the roads to evacuate the injured.


Some information for this report provided by AP and Reuters.

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