Monday September 8, 2008  8:46 am

AP Photo PES105< ContentType:Spot Development; ContentElement:FullStory; Breaking:True;

By ISHTIAQ MAHSUD

Associated Press Writer

DERA ISMAIL KHAN, Pakistan (AP) - Several explosions, reportedly caused by missile strikes from unmanned U.S. drone aircraft, hit a house and seminary linked to a key Taliban commander in northwestern Pakistan, officials said.

Also on Monday, a 16-year-old boy wearing a suicide-bomber jacket and carrying a hand grenade was arrested in an army-controlled area in the northwest, police said.

An intelligence official who spoke on condition of anonymity due to the sensitivity of his job said at least six people were killed in the missiled strikes, including three foreigners and two children.

It appeared to be the latest in a string of attacks by U.S. forces on Islamic militant havens in Pakistan's tribal areas along the border with Afghanistan.

The targets apparently belonged to Jalauddin Haqqani, a veteran of the jihad against Soviet troops in Afghanistan in the 1980s who American commanders describe as one of their most dangerous foes.

Haqqani and his son, Siraj, have been linked to attacks this year including an attempt to kill Afghan President Hamid Karzai and a bold attack on a luxury hotel in Kabul. Haqqani network operatives plague U.S. forces in Afghanistan's eastern Khost province with ambushes and roadside bombs.

The seminary had been closed after previous attacks in the area.

Army spokesman Maj. Murad Khan only confirmed blasts in the village of Dande Darba Khel, some 2.5 miles west of Miran Shah, and said 12 were injured. ``The cause of the explosions is being investigated,'' he said.

Bakht Niaz told The Associated Press by phone that he and several other shopkeepers saw two Predator drones flying over the area before several explosions around 10 a.m. local time.

``We got out of our shops and ran for safety,'' Niaz said.

He said he saw two wounded people being taken away for treatment and roughly another dozen wounded in the local hospital.

Senior police officer Akhtar Ali Shah said the youth carrying the hand grenade was taken into custody at a military cantonment, an area that includes civilian and army facilities, about 30 miles east of Peshawar, site of a suicide bombing Saturday that killed 35 people.

``Swift action by the police yielded the arrest of the boy, who was brought into the cantonment area by accomplices who are being traced,'' Shah said.

He said the boy was being interrogated by a joint team of senior investigators from the police and security agencies. He would not speculate on the possible target but said the army's supply corps is located in the area.

The U.S. has pushed Pakistan to crack down on insurgents, warning they are using pockets of the northwest as safe havens from which to plan attacks on American and NATO forces in Afghanistan. A recent U.S.-led ground crossborder assault on a Pakistani tribal region, however, prompted protests from the government.

Pakistan has struggled to contain rising militancy in its borders, and the fledgling government has tried both peace talks and military operations to stop the insurgents.

A recent U.S.-led ground cross-border assault last week on a Pakistani tribal region, which was said to kill at least 15, prompted protests from the government and angered many Pakistanis. Several missile attacks in the area in recent weeks also have been attributed to U.S. forces.

New President Asif Ali Zardari, elected Saturday by legislators, has vowed to be tough on militancy.

In recent weeks, the Pakistani Taliban have claimed responsibility for a string of suicide bombings in revenge for military offensives in the northwestern region that borders Afghanistan. One attack killed nearly 70 people at a major weapons factory.

Pakistan has struggled to contain rising militancy in its borders, and the fledgling government has tried both peace talks and military operations to stop the insurgents.