MIRANSHAH: A US missile strike by a drone killed at least five militants in Pakistan’s North Waziristan Agency on Monday, security officials said.
The attack targeted militants sleeping at a compound in Haider Khel village of Mir Ali district in North Waziristan, 25 kilometres east of Miranshah. “Five militants were killed,” said a senior security official on condition of anonymity.
“The drone fired two missiles,” he added. “The compound belonged to local tribesman Ahmad Ali and had become a hub of militants’ movement,” a local security official said. The identities of those killed were not immediately clear, he added.
The US considers the northwestern tribal region of Pakistan, which borders Afghanistan, a haven for militants who use the lawless area as a base to plan and carry out attacks on NATO and Pakistani forces. The US has dramatically increased the frequency of drone strikes in the tribal belt.
More than 150 people have been killed since September 3, heightening tensions with Islamabad over reported US criticism of Pakistan’s failure so far to launch a ground offensive in North Waziristan. The US does not as a rule confirm drone attacks, but its military and the Central Intelligence Agency operating in Afghanistan are the only forces that deploy the pilot-less aircraft in the region.
US drone strike kills five militants in North Waziristan
