GEO Pakistan ""Suspected U.S. strike kills 21 in Mir Ali

Updated at: 2217 PST, Friday, October 31, 2008 MIRANSHAH: A suspected missile strike by US spy drones destroyed a vehicle and a house in tribal area bordering Afghanistan Friday, killing at least 21 people, security officials said.Two missiles were involved in the strike west of Mir Ali, a town in the troubled North Waziristan tribal region that is a known hub of Al-Qaeda and Taliban militants, they said.The attack came just two days after Pakistan, a key ally in the US-led "war on terror", summoned Washington's ambassador to Islamabad to receive a strong protest over a number of similar strikes.The latest targeted an Al-Qaeda operative, possibly an Iraqi, but officials citing local intelligence reports said he was not believed to be among the dead.Officials gave the targeted militant's name as Abu Akasa Al-Iraqi. Local residents said the strike hit the house of a Pakistani tribesman named Amanullah Dawar.It was the 17th such strike in the past 10 weeks, according to sources.A strike on Sunday killed senior Taliban commander Haji Omar Khan, a lieutenant of veteran Afghan Taliban chieftain and former anti-Soviet fighter Jalaluddin Haqqani.