A US drone strike killed at least three militants in North Waziristan on Thursday, destroying a compound in a mountain stronghold of the Afghan Taliban’s Haqqani network, officials said. The attack took place in Darpakhel Sarai, just outside Miranshah, the main town of North Waziristan. “A drone fired two missiles on a militant compound. At least three militants were killed,” a senior security official told AFP. He said those killed were loyal to Jamil Haqqani, an important Afghan commander in the Haqqani network whom US officials said was killed in a drone strike in North Waziristan on October 13. A US official at the time named him as Janbaz Zadran, saying he “played a central role in helping the Haqqani network attack US and coalition targets in Kabul and southeastern Afghanistan”.
Other intelligence officials in Miranshah and Peshawar confirmed Thursday’s missile strike and casualties. Three other wounded militants were pulled out of the rubble and taken to hospital, witnesses said. One of them was carried out on a cot by seven to eight militants enveloped in dust. Militants cordoned off the area and were preventing anyone from accessing the destroyed compound, they said. A local intelligence official said about 10 militants had been inside the compound but that some had managed to escape.
