Despite sovereignty mantra: Four ‘militants’ killed in North Waziristan drone strike

It was the fifth reported attack since parliament demanded an end to drone campaign. PHOTO: EPA/FILE

The attack took place at a house near Miramshah, the main town in North Waziristan where US believes Taliban and al Qaeda linked militants are headquartered, the officials said.

It was the fifth US drone strike reported in the tribal regions since parliament in March demanded an end to such attacks.

“A US drone fired two missiles at a house and at least four militants were killed,” a senior security official told AFP. “The identities of the militants killed in the drone strike were not immediately known,” he said. Two other officials confirmed the attack.

Residents said they were woken up by the sound of a low flying aircraft and the noise of the missile strike.

“The house caught fire after missiles struck and the militants immediately cordoned off the area and began searching the rubble,” a local tribesman told AFP. Washington considers the tribal belt the main hub of the Taliban and al Qaeda from where militants plot attacks on the West and in Afghanistan.

North Waziristan is a stronghold of the Haqqani network – a group of Afghan insurgents blamed for a series of spectacular attacks on Western targets in Kabul – and Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) chief Hakimullah Mehsud.

Islamabad has been resisting US pressure to launch a sweeping offensive against militants in the area.

Published in The Express Tribune, May 27^th, 2012.