Five more killed in fresh drone strike

A US drone on Tuesday fired three missiles killing five militants.

MIRANSHAH: A US drone on Tuesday fired three missiles at a militant compound in Pakistan's northwestern tribal belt, killing five militants, officials said.

A day earlier eight militants were killed in a US drone strike in the same region.

There have been more than 200 strikes, which have killed over 900 people, mostly civilians, in the tribal areas since 2008. Today’s was the tenth such strike in 11 days, security officials said.

With the country struggling to cope with devastating floods that have hit 21 million people in the country’s worst humanitarian disaster, militant violence has picked up in recent weeks with a fresh series of major bombings.

US missiles have killed 60 militants in North Waziristan since September 3. The Taliban last week threatened Pakistani security forces with further suicide attacks to avenge US strikes, which have become a key tactic in the US-led fight to reverse a Taliban insurgency in neighbouring Afghanistan.