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10 killed in Pakistan missile strike

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From Times Wire Services

A missile destroyed a suspected militant hide-out Friday in northwestern Pakistan near the Afghan border, killing 10 people and wounding 11, security officials said.

Washington said there was no indication that the U.S. military was involved in the strike on a compound in Danday village, on the outskirts of the town of Miram Shah.

Militants blocked a reporter from approaching the building that was hit, and later took the dead and wounded from the scene, two Pakistani officials said.

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They spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to comment.

Pakistani forces have been battling pro-Taliban militants in North Waziristan, the scene of heavy fighting last month. The government is under U.S. pressure to crack down on militants in the region, amid concerns that Al Qaeda could be regrouping there.

A Pakistani army spokesman confirmed the attack but would not say who launched it.

A few Miram Shah residents said they saw a drone aircraft an hour before hearing an explosion.

U.S. Defense Department spokesman Bryan Whitman said he did not think the U.S. military launched the missile.

Asked whether the missile could have been launched by another U.S. agency -- the CIA has flown drone aircraft in the region -- Whitman said, “I only talk for the United States military.”

The missile attack came as U.S. Central Command chief Adm. William J. Fallon visited Pakistan. He met with President Pervez Musharraf, the Geo TV channel reported.

Pakistan’s Supreme Court said Friday that it would quickly wrap up hearing challenges to Musharraf’s reelection, after an earlier plan for a 10-day adjournment raised fears that emergency rule might be declared.

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The court will reconvene Monday instead of a week later, Nov. 12, which would have been just three days before Musharraf’s current term ends.

The schedule had been a factor fueling rumors that Musharraf, an army general who also heads Pakistan’s military, might invoke emergency powers and call off parliamentary elections due to be held by mid-January.

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