One or more unmanned U.S spy planes fired at least two missiles into a large complex that had been used as a religious school in the past in the Pasalkot area close to the border with South Waziristan soon after dawn broke Pakistani intelligence officials said.
The dead militants included two foreigners while at least eight others were wounded said the officials who spoke on condition of anonymity because they are not authorized to speak to the media on the record. Richard Holbrooke the U.S. special envoy to Pakistan and Afghanistan said that he had no information on the strike but that Mehsud's death would be a good thing. America does not acknowledge being behind the program and its officials rarely talk about it directly. "He either is or was a very bad person" Holbrooke told foreign correspondents in the capital Islamabad.
Three Pakistani intelligence officials and four militants told the AP that Hakimullah Mehsud was not among the dead. He had been expected to attend the meeting but authorities were still trying to determine whether he did the officials said. They cited wireless communications intercepts tracking Mehsud's movements saying he was alive safe and traveling. They spoke on condition of anonymity because of the sensitivity of the subject and for personal security reasons. There is a 10 million rupee ($120000) bounty on his head.