Pakistan

US drone strike kills 8 in South Waziristan

At least eight militants were killed in a US drone strike on a house near Wana in South Waziristan today.

Afp/express June 29, 2010

PESHAWAR: A US drone fired two missiles into a compound used by militants in Wana on Tuesday, killing at least eight militants, security officials said.

The attack comes a day after President Asif Ali Zardari urged the US for early transfer of drone technology to Pakistan to fight against militancy.

The missiles targeted the compound in Karikot village, about 10 kilometres (six miles) southwest of Wana, the main town in South Waziristan district, a senior security official told AFP on condition of anonymity.

"Eight militants have died in the attack and at least two were wounded," he said. The compound belonging to a militant commander, Maulana Halimullah, had been destroyed. "The dead included some foreign militants," he said.

Officials in Wana also confirmed the attack and the toll.

South Waziristan, considered a stronghold of militants, was the scene of a major offensive last year. The district borders North Waziristan, where a similar drone strike on Sunday also killed six militants.

Washington has branded the rugged tribal area on the Afghan border a global headquarters of al Qaeda and the most dangerous place on earth. Around 950 people have been killed in more than 100 drone strikes in Pakistan since August 2008, including a number of senior militants.

However the attacks fueled anti-American sentiment in the country. The US military does not, as a rule, confirm drone attacks, but its armed forces and the Central Intelligence Agency operating in Afghanistan are the only forces that deploy pilotless drones in the region.

Meanwhile in central Kurram, at least 11 militants were killed and six others were injured in clashes with security forces. The clashes took place in Ghundai area of the agency.

Also an operation against militants is underway in neighbouring Orakzai Agency. Hundreds of militant hideouts have been wiped out in this operation in the last five months and more than 1,200 militants have been killed.

COMMENTS (3)

Adnan | 14 years ago | Reply Assalamoalaikum This targeting of people using drones be they civilians or militants is not only against the sovereignty of Islamic Republic of Pakistan, it is against the established norms in the world. This is because there is always a huge collateral damage involved and we must not support such incidents. Rather we should raise our voices against this at the appropriate forums. Those in favour of these attacks should remember they could be next target of such drones. Just because one is sitting in a part of the world where such drones are not attacking people everyday, one should not start supporting these attacks. These are muslims being targeted. They (militants) did not target us (Pakistanis) first. It was us who provided "logistic support" to the forces in Afghanistan to help kill them. It was the same militants who were pivotal in ridding the world of the menace of Communism. Let us not be fooled by what the media is feeding us.

Syed Nadir El-Edroos | 14 years ago | Reply First the government of Pakistan argues that the use of drones to target individuals kills many civilians. Then they request that the technology should be transferred to us. Why? So that Pakistani military forces can then kill civilians as well? Perhaps if we invested abit more in education we would have the skills to develop our own weapon systems, rather than queuing up before the some country that we criticize to no end, but line up to receive weapon systems from.

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