Three killed in drone strike on moving car

The unmanned US aircraft targets a vehicle by firing two missiles at it in the Tapi area of Miranshah.

At least three militants died on Monday in a US missile strike on a vehicle in a tribal town in northwestern Pakistan near the Afghan border, security officials said.

The drone fired two missiles on a suspect vehicle and initial reports suggest three militants were killed, according to a security official, requesting anonymity. Another official confirmed the attack and said it took place about 10 kilometres east of Miranshah, the main town in North Waziristan.

A security official in Peshawar city said the missile targeted a moving car and killed three militants. The deeply unpopular covert US drone campaign which operates with the tacit consent of Pakistani officials, has been ramped up recently as the missiles target insurgents believed to be hiding in the lawless border regions.

Missile attacks doubled in the area last year as the covert campaign was stepped up, with more than 100 drone strikes killing over 670 people in 2010.

Published in The Express Tribune, March 15^th, 2011.