CIA Missile Misses Afghan Warlord - U.S. Official

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The Central Intelligence Agency (news - web sites) fired a missile at an Afghan warlord from an unmanned spy aircraft this week but missed the target, who was plotting to bring down the country's interim government, a senior U.S. official said on Thursday.

"I believe some others were killed in the strike, but the target escaped," the official told Reuters, confirming a New York Times report of Monday's attack by a Predator drone against Gulbuddin Hekmatyar, head of a hardline Islamic group.

The official, who asked not to be identified, said Hekmatyar, a former Afghan prime minister and veteran of the war against Soviet occupation, was also plotting to launch attacks on U.S. and coalition military forces in Afghanistan (news - web sites).

The Hellfire missile strike would signal a new U.S. tactic in embattled Afghanistan and a sign of the Bush administration's determination to support the interim government of leader Hamid Karzai.