Eight people have been killed and four others injured in two attacks carried out by US assassination drones in Pakistan’s North Waziristan tribal area, which borders Afghanistan.
In the first attack, US drones fired eight missiles at a compound in the village of Haiderkhel in the Miranshah district in the early hours of Tuesday morning, killing five people and injuring four others, the Pakistani television network Express News reported.
Shortly after the first attack, US drones fired two missiles at a house in the village of Essukhel in the Miranshah district, killing three people.
On Sunday, 16 people were killed in a US drone strike on the tribal area of South Waziristan.
Pakistan’s tribal regions are often attacked by US assassination drones.
Washington claims that its airstrikes target militants crossing the border with Afghanistan, but local sources say civilians have been the main victims of the attacks.
In September 2012, a report by the Stanford Law School and the New York University School of Law gave an alarming account of the effect that assassination drone strikes have on ordinary people in Pakistan’s tribal areas. The report noted, “The number of ‘high-level’ targets killed as a percentage of total casualties is extremely low — estimated at just 2%.”
The killing of Pakistani civilians, including women and children, has strained relations between Islamabad and Washington.
Source: Press TV
Comments