DERA ISMAIL KHAN, Pakistan - Two suspected U.S. missile strikes close to the border with Afghanistan killed three people Friday, Pakistani intelligence officials said.
The strikes took place in two villages in North Waziristan, according to the officials who spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to speak to the media.
A Pakistani military spokesman said he was not immediately able to comment on the suspected strikes.
American forces recently ramped up cross-border operations against Taliban and al-Qaida militants in the Pakistan's border zone with Afghanistan -- a region considered a likely hiding place for Osama bin Laden.
Earlier this week, officials said that a suspected U.S. missile strike on a Taliban commander's home in Pakistan killed six people late Tuesday.
Pakistan says the attacks often result in civilian casualties and serve to fan extremism. American officials complain that Pakistan was unwilling or unable to act against the militants.
Militants in the border region are blamed for rising attacks on U.S. troops in Afghanistan and attacks within Pakistan, including the Sept. 20 truck bombing of the Marriott Hotel in Islamabad that killed more than 50 people.
The U.N. reacted to that blast on Thursday by ordering the children of its international staff out of the city -- putting it on a par with trouble spots such as Kabul, Afghanistan and Mogadishu, Somalia.
It insisted the move was temporary and would not affect its operations.
Britain announced Wednesday it was repatriating its diplomats' children and other countries may follow suit. Pakistan has long been a non-family posting for U.S. diplomatic staff.
