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Pakistan: US drone strikes kill nine militants in North Waziristan
ISLAMABAD, (Dawn): Suspected US drones fired missiles at vehicles and hit a militant hide-out in Pakistan’s North Waziristan tribal region on Wednesday, killing at least nine insurgents, two officials said.
In the first attack, the drones fired four missiles at a vehicle and flattened a nearby house near Miramshah, the main town in North Waziristan, killing six militants, an army and an intelligence official said.
About 50 minutes later, drones fired three more missiles at a vehicle in the Madakhel town, about 25 miles west of Miramshah, killing three insurgents, said the officials on condition of anonymity.
Other militants were also wounded in the two strikes, they said.
The CIA has stepped up attacks in Pakistan's tribal regions since December, when a suicide bomber killed seven CIA employees in neighbouring Afghanistan.
The latest attack came a day after the US missile attack destroyed a militant facility in the same region, killing at least nine suspects.
Officials say some of the men slain in Tuesday's attack in Dattakhel were believed to be foreigners who were present in the stronghold of Hafiz Gul Bahadur, a warlord whose fighters are battling US and Nato forces in Afghanistan.
Although Pakistan publicly opposes the attacks, saying they violate its sovereignty and fuel anti-Americanism among the population, it is believed that it was sharing intelligence with the Americans about the insurgents and their hide-outs.
Washington also refuses to publicly discuss the program, which uses unmanned drones, but Pakistani officials say privately the attacks have killed several senior al-Qaida and Taliban commanders in recent years.
ISLAMABAD, (Dawn): Suspected US drones fired missiles at vehicles and hit a militant hide-out in Pakistan’s North Waziristan tribal region on Wednesday, killing at least nine insurgents, two officials said.
In the first attack, the drones fired four missiles at a vehicle and flattened a nearby house near Miramshah, the main town in North Waziristan, killing six militants, an army and an intelligence official said.
About 50 minutes later, drones fired three more missiles at a vehicle in the Madakhel town, about 25 miles west of Miramshah, killing three insurgents, said the officials on condition of anonymity.
Other militants were also wounded in the two strikes, they said.
The CIA has stepped up attacks in Pakistan's tribal regions since December, when a suicide bomber killed seven CIA employees in neighbouring Afghanistan.
The latest attack came a day after the US missile attack destroyed a militant facility in the same region, killing at least nine suspects.
Officials say some of the men slain in Tuesday's attack in Dattakhel were believed to be foreigners who were present in the stronghold of Hafiz Gul Bahadur, a warlord whose fighters are battling US and Nato forces in Afghanistan.
Although Pakistan publicly opposes the attacks, saying they violate its sovereignty and fuel anti-Americanism among the population, it is believed that it was sharing intelligence with the Americans about the insurgents and their hide-outs.
Washington also refuses to publicly discuss the program, which uses unmanned drones, but Pakistani officials say privately the attacks have killed several senior al-Qaida and Taliban commanders in recent years.