Report: Smaller missiles used in Pakistan

ISLAMABAD, Pakistan, April 26 (UPI) -- New U.S. missiles and advanced surveillance of militants in Pakistan have helped sharply reduce civilian casualties, officials say.

The new missiles -- smaller than previous missiles -- are reportedly being used by the U.S. Central Intelligence Agency for its targeted killings of suspected insurgents in Pakistan's tribal areas, The Washington Post reported, quoting current and former U.S. and Pakistani officials.

Advanced technology has improved the missiles' accuracy, which in turn has calmed Pakistan's public outcry over civilian casualties.

The airstrikes have also helped eliminate hundreds of suspected insurgents since early 2009, officials said.

The CIA does not publicly comment on its operations in Pakistan, but two counter-terrorism officials told the Post that new technology and tactics have drastically minimized civilian deaths.

The lighter missiles and miniature drones are being increasingly used in place of 100-pound Hellfire missiles fired from remotely controlled Predator planes. The new systems also have made operations in urban areas more feasible, the officials said.

The report said a small CIA missile weighing about 35 pounds blasted the second floor of a house in the South Waziristan tribal area in March and killed a top al-Qaida official and nine other suspects. But no one else in the town of 5,000 was hurt, U.S. officials who reviewed the strike reports told the newspaper.

The United States plans to provide Pakistan with surveillance drones but will not arm them, the report said.