According to the official, the suspected militants belonged to the Qari Abbas faction of the Punjabi Taliban. PHOTO: FILE
The attack took place in the Dargamandi area, seven kilometres north of Miramshah, the headquarters of the North Waziristan Agency.
“Four US drones had been circling a militant compound around 11am,” a security official told The Express Tribune. “One of them launched two missiles at the target, killing six militants and injuring three others,” he added.
According to the official, the suspected militants belonged to the Qari Abbas faction of the Punjabi Taliban. He said the identities of those killed were not yet clear.
A senior security official confirmed the attack while talking to AFP, but said only three people were killed. An intelligence official in Miramshah put the toll at four.
Meanwhile, a curfew has been imposed in the North Waziristan Agency for an indefinite period.
The latest drone strike, which took place within 48 hours of Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif’s speech at the UN, was strongly condemned by Pakistan. A statement released by the Foreign Office immediately after the strike, reaffirmed Islamabad’s stance that such attacks violate the country’s territorial integrity and sovereignty.
In his address to the UN General Assembly on Friday, PM Nawaz had stressed that the use of armed drones in the border areas of Pakistan was counter-productive for the war on terror in addition to being a continued violation of the country’s territorial integrity.
He demanded the US cease such strikes, so that further casualties and suffering could be averted.
“Pakistan has repeatedly emphasised the importance of bringing an immediate end to drone strikes… [the attacks] are counter-productive, entail loss of innocent civilian lives and have human rights and humanitarian implications,” it said.
“Such strikes also set dangerous precedents in inter-state relations,” the statement added. It cautioned that use of armed drones cast a negative impact on the mutual desire of both countries to forge a cordial and cooperative relationship.
Published in The Express Tribune, September 30th, 2013.
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Drones are here to stay. They replace conventional tanks, and foot soldiers. They stay in air for weeks at a time, and kill the enemy at the right moment with minimum collateral damage. No claims, no complaints, no courts, no jails, no jail breaks, no governments to rescue. 175 people watch and control a single drone operation through a chain of command. it is not that the missile is fired at will indiscriminately, by just pushing a button sitting in an air conditioned office drinking Scotch, from far away. They make sure Taliban terrorists are targeted beyond reasonable doubt. Collateral damage does occur, but that is less than that occurs in an army tank firing at villages. It is definitely less than the Taliban killing innocent civilians by iEDs or suicide explosions. Without the support of iSi and Army, Taliban can't exist. Drone are an after affect. No Taliban terrorists, border crossing and killing Afghans, no drones. Taliban terrorists are trained and groomed to fight in Kashmir, and dismantle india with a thousand cuts. it is a political miscalculation that boomeranged. india can defend itself from Taliban. Could Pakistani citizens defend themselves from Taliban suicide bombers? if you don't eliminate them they will eliminate you, and take Pakistan to 7th century. So the best thing is to let others do the dirty job for you. Don't complain.
Pakistan does not have the courage, will or the power to fight the terrorists. Please send more drones - someone needs to settle the score with the terrorists. These terrorists are killing ordinary Pakistanis and even higher ups in our armed forces like flies.