Miranshah, PAKISTAN: United States drone aircraft on Tuesday fired more than a dozen missiles into Pakistan’s North Waziristan, a major al-Qaeda and Taliban sanctuary, killing at least 14 tribesmen, Pakistani security officials said.
It was the third drone missile strike on militants in northwest Pakistan, bordering Afghanistan, since a failed bid to set off a car bomb in New York’s Times Square on May 1.
The United States is convinced that Pakistani Taliban militants allied with al-Qaeda and operating out of northwestern border regions were behind the attempted bombing.
The drone attack was in Dattakhel village, about 30 km (20 miles) west of Miranshah, the main town in North Waziristan.
“Three missiles hit a vehicle and three militants sitting in it were killed,” said an intelligence agency official in the region, who declined to be identified.
The drones then attacked a nearby militant compound, firing about 12 missiles into it.
“The militants have cordoned off the area so far they’ve retrieved 11 bodies from the debris,” said a second security official. “The death toll may rise because the militants are still searching for bodies.”
There was no word on the identity of any of the militants killed but the attack was in an area where members of an Afghan Taliban faction led by a commander known as Gul Bahadur operate. Foreign fighters linked to al-Qaeda are known to be in the area.
Pakistani Taliban fighters fleeing an army offensive launched late last year on their South Waziristan bastion are also known to have taken refuge with their North Waziristan allies.
Pakistan publicly objects to attacks by CIA pilotless aircraft saying they are a violation of its sovereignty and fuel anti-U.S. feelings, which complicate Pakistan’s efforts against militancy.
Unofficially, however, analysts say Pakistan is cooperating with the United States in identifying at least some of the militant targets attacked by the drones.
Source: Agencies