U.S. missile kills 3 in Pakistan tribal area

Pakistani intelligence officials say a U.S. missile strike has killed at least three people in a troubled northwestern tribal region near the Afghan border.

The two officials said the two missiles early Tuesday destroyed a car carrying three people in a village near Mir Ali, which is a main town in North Waziristan.

The officials spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to speak publicly to the media.

Seventeen kids among dozens killed in Pakistan attack

Militants stormed a mosque near Pakistan's army headquarters, killing at least 36 people, including six military officers and 17 children, during Friday prayers as they sprayed gunfire and threw grenades before blowing themselves up, officials said.

It was the latest in a wave of strikes by suspected Islamist insurgents that has killed more than 400 people in Pakistan since October.

The Associated Press put the death toll at 36. Reuters, meanwhile, reported that said 40 had been killed in the incident, noting that it was not clear if that figure included attackers.

A military statement said four attackers hurled grenades, then opened fire as they rushed toward the mosque, which was located on Parade Lane in a military residential colony, just a few miles from the capital. Two suicide bombers then blew themselves up inside, while the other two militants were killed in an exchange of gunfire, it said.

City residents said access to the mosque was mostly restricted to soldiers and their families.

Attackers slay dozens in Pakistan mosque

Pakistan - Up to three suicide attackers stormed a mosque close to Pakistan's army headquarters, killing dozens of people during Friday prayers as they sprayed gunfire at worshippers and threw grenades before blowing themselves up, officials said.

The Associated Press put the death toll at 36, while Reuters said 40 had been killed in the incident. There was no explanation for the discrepancy in numbers, although the exact number of dead is often difficult to determine in the immediate aftermath of such an attack.

Seventy were wounded in the attack and the identities of the dead were not known, the AP reported.

The brazen attack in what should be one of the most secure areas of Pakistan was the latest challenge by militants against the writ of the state. A local television station said people were executed in cold blood.

Pakistan is fighting Taliban fighters blamed for bombings that have killed hundreds of people since an offensive was launched on their stronghold South Waziristan in October.

The nuclear-armed country faces mounting U.S. pressure to root out Islamist militants operating along forbidding border areas to help in the war against the Taliban in Afghanistan.