Jan. 24 (Bloomberg) -- Two missile strikes involving U.S. Predator drones killed at least 15 people in al-Qaeda strongholds in Pakistan’s tribal regions yesterday.

The attacks are the first known offensives against suspected terrorists in the region since President Barack Obama took office on Jan. 20.

Eight people were killed when missiles from an unmanned surveillance plane struck a militant compound near the town of Mir Ali in North Waziristan, and hours later another drone fired two rockets into a house in the town of Wana in South Waziristan, killing seven more, AFP said.

The strikes come amid increasing reports of Predator attacks in the region in the past six months that have resulted in the deaths of some senior al-Qaeda officials.

Earlier this month, a missile fired by a CIA-operated drone in northern Pakistan killed Usama al-Kini, a Kenyan national who was al-Qaeda’s chief of operations in Pakistan, and his lieutenant, Sheikh Ahmed Salim Swedan, the Washington Post reported, citing unidentified U.S. counterterrorism officials.

A Predator missile strike in December 2005 killed Abu Hamza Rabia, an Egyptian militant whom Pakistani and U.S. officials described as the operational commander of al-Qaeda fighters.

During the presidential campaign, Obama said he would pursue terrorists in the northwestern tribal region of Pakistan if then-Pakistani President Pervez Musharraf showed he was reluctant to do so.

‘Actionable Intelligence’

“If we have actionable intelligence about high-value terrorist targets and President Musharraf won’t act, we will,” he said in an Aug. 1, 2007, speech.

Obama’s comments at the time were criticized by Hillary Clinton, his main rival for the Democratic nomination and now the secretary of state, and by Republican Senator John McCain of Arizona, whom he eventually defeated for the presidency.

White House Press Secretary Robert Gibbs declined to comment on the reports at a briefing yesterday.

In an interview today on CNN, Musharraf said the attacks aren’t popular with Pakistanis, regardless of their views on the militants.

“Nobody in Pakistan is comfortable with strikes across the border” from Afghanistan, he said.

Musharraf said he hoped Obama also would address “core disputes” about injustices in the Muslim world that spur people to become terrorists.

Slow-Flying Drones

Mir Ali residents said they saw at least one of the distinctive, slow-flying Predator drones above the village before the missiles were fired, Pakistan’s Dawn News reported. Only the U.S. military and the CIA fly Predators, and the CIA arms them with missiles.

The Predator, made by General Atomics Aeronautical Systems Inc. in San Diego, is a 27-foot (8.2-meter) drone that has been used since 1995 in combat zones such as the Balkans and the Middle East, according to the company’s Web site.

Mir Ali is a densely populated oasis of green farmland amid the rugged mountains of Waziristan, and its villages have served for the past five years as bases for Arab, Uzbek and other fighters of al-Qaeda.

Dawn News said the second attack was mounted by a Predator and targeted Gangi Khel, a village about 3 miles (4.8 kilometers) west of Wana, South Waziristan’s administrative center.

To contact the reporters on this story: James Rupert in Lahore, Pakistan, at jrupert3@bloomberg.net; Jeff Bliss in Washington at jbliss@bloomberg.net.

Last Updated: January 23, 2009 18:23 EST