Intense Drone Strikes Hammer Pakistan Taliban

ISLAMABAD, Pakistan (May 11) -- Intense aerial bombing by U.S. drones struck at militants in North Waziristan today in what appeared to be a show of force following last week's failed attempt to detonate a bomb in New York's Times Square.

U.S. authorities now believe the Pakistani Taliban, largely based in the North Waziristan area, were responsible for training and sending Faisal Shahzad, a U.S. citizen of Pakistani descent, to carry out the attack.

Initial reports indicate at least four drones were involved, firing a barrage of up to 18 missiles into Datta Khel village, near the Afghan border, that killed at least 14.

None of the information coming out of the area could be independently verified, as it is a no-go zone for journalists.

U.S. authorities have denied that the intensity of the onslaught was in response to the New York attack, but locals in the area who spoke to AOL News by telephone say it is the most intense bombardment they have ever witnessed.

"There are still drones circling over us," said one local, Aminullah, providing only one name. "We're expecting more missiles to be launched at any time."

Locals told AOL News that the main target of the bombardment was a house where eight Taliban militants had gathered.

"Five of the men were outsiders, from another area in North Waziristan, and three were local men working with them," one local said. All eight were killed in the attack.

Al-Jazeera has reported that a vehicle carrying militants was also attacked, as well as tents being used by militants near the Afghan border. Local sources also say the area is home to a number of militant groups, including those attached to Hafiz Gul Bahadur, the senior Pakistani Taliban commander in North Waziristan. The area has recently become the base for Taliban militants fleeing a Pakistani military operation in neighboring South Waziristan.

Another local, requesting anonymity, claimed to have seen foreign fighters in the vicinity of Datta Khel. Foreign jihadis, usually Arabs or Chechens, are viewed by locals and intelligence officials as a telltale sign of al-Qaida's presence in Pakistan's lawless Tribal Areas in the mountainous region along the border with Afghanistan.

Only days earlier, U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton had warned Pakistan of "severe consequences" if an attack on the U.S. traced to the country ever succeeded. But Gen. David Petraeus, overall commander of U.S. forces in Central Asia and the Middle East, later softened the threat, assuring his Pakistani counterpart, Gen. Ashfaq Parvez Kayani, that Pakistan remained a friend and close ally.

This is not the first time U.S. drones have struck in North Waziristan in the week since the Times Square bombing attempt. Two previous incidents have been reported, though it's unclear how many were killed.

The CIA-led drone program has been controversial in Pakistan. Local politicians complain that the tactic is killing more civilians than militants and alienating Pakistanis from the U.S., making it tougher on Pakistan to confront its burgeoning militant threat.

However, Dawn News, a leading Pakistani media outlet, has been reporting that the impact on civilians is overblown. It claimed that local residents and leaders welcome the drone strikes, as they rid the area of militants who have made life unbearable for them. Some residents have told AOL News they prefer the drone attacks to the greater impact they fear will result from a full-scale military action by the Pakistan army to root out militants from the region.