U.S. Strike in Pakistan May Signal Increased Coordination

ISLAMABAD, Pakistan, July 3 -- The followers of one of Pakistan's most feared Taliban commanders, Baitullah Mehsud, came under a fresh round of U.S. drone attacks Friday in bombings that killed at least six people, according to Pakistani government officials.

The missile attacks targeted a suspected Taliban camp and a religious school used by fighters in the rugged tribal border region of South Waziristan, said a local official from the region and a resident, who said at least 13 people were killed. A Pakistani military spokesman, Maj. Gen. Athar Abbas, said he had no information about whether senior fighters had been killed in the attack.

Such U.S. bombardments have become the focus of widespread outrage among the Pakistani public and an uncomfortable issue with the country's civilian and military leadership, who privately support them but must be sensitive to public animosity.

The most recent attacks targeting Mehsud's network, however, suggest there is a new level of coordination and common strategy between Pakistani and U.S. efforts at a time when both countries' militaries are engaged in major operations against the Taliban.

As a rule, U.S. officials do not publicly comment on individual drone strikes. They are usually first reported by civilians or local officials and confirmed by Pakistani officials.

A common criticism about the drone attacks among Pakistani officials centers around the fact that U.S. officials have tended to target Taliban or al-Qaeda leaders who are central to their fight in Afghanistan and elsewhere, rather than the Taliban leaders who cause havoc on Pakistani soil, such as Mehsud. But Friday's strike followed another U.S. drone attack in South Waziristan on June 23 that hit a militant commander's funeral and reportedly came close to killing Mehsud. The attack left 50 people dead, but Mehsud reportedly had left the ceremony shortly beforehand.

"That public posture is a bit of a shadow play," said Shuja Nawaz, an analyst and director of the South Asia Center at the Atlantic Council in Washington. "There is much greater collaboration and cooperation than they let on. Now that the U.S. is concentrating on Baitullah, I'm sure the Pakistanis are grateful."

Mehsud, who commands hundreds if not thousands of followers, has become perhaps the single most important target for the Pakistani military, which has strafed their homes and hideouts on bombing runs in recent weeks. His group is considered responsible for many of the more than 30 suicide bombings this year that have killed hundreds in Pakistan.

"Historically speaking, all these suicide bombers we trace go back to South Waziristan," said Rehman Malik, Pakistan's interior minister.

But U.S. and Pakistan's interests in this fight against the Taliban do not always converge. As the U.S. Marines continue their major operation in Helmand province in Afghanistan, many Pakistanis fear that this pressure could force more fighters to seek refuge in Pakistan.

Meanwhile, a Pakistani army helicopter crashed in northwestern Pakistan, killing 26 people on board, officials said. A mechanical failure caused the crash, the officials said, but a Taliban commander told journalists that the Taliban shot down the aircraft.

Special correspondents Haq Nawaz Khan in Peshawar and Shaiq Hussain in Islamabad contributed to this report.