U.S. missiles slammed into three compounds close to the Afghan border Friday, killing at least15 suspected militants, Pakistani officials said, just a day after the government summoned an American diplomat to protest drone strikes in the country's northwest tribal region. The drones struck the North Waziristan tribal area, the main militant sanctuary in the country and the target of a planned Pakistani military operation that the U.S. expects in the near future. By Friday, around 1,000 people, including wives and children of the foreign militants, had fled from four villages surrounding Mir Ali, one of the main towns in North Waziristan and a key sanctuary for militants fighting in Pakistan, said local residents. It appeared the militants would either head across the border to Afghanistan or to the neighboring South Waziristan tribal area. The Pakistani army conducted a major offensive against the Pakistani Taliban in South Waziristan in 2009, but militants still operate freely in some areas. LBCI/AP