Two drone strikes kill 12 in North Waziristan

Attack comes days after Parliament warning that Islamabad would withdraw Nato transit facility in case of strikes.

MIRANSHAH:

Two US drone strikes targeting a militant compound and a vehicle in the North Waziristan tribal agency killed at least a dozen militants on Monday, officials said.

The attacks came days after a warning from Parliament that Islamabad would withdraw transit facility for Nato supplies if the US did not stop missile strike in its tribal regions.

Monday’s attacks took place in Mir Ali town, some 40 kilometres east of Miramshah, a stronghold of Taliban militants and the main town in the North Waziristan tribal district.

Two US drones fired two missiles into a militant compound, and minutes later another drone fired two missiles at a vehicle close to the compound, officials said.

“The vehicle was completely burnt and the compound was also destroyed,” a security official in Miramshah said. A second security official in Peshawar confirmed both the drone strikes and the casualties.

It was not clear whether the drones were pursuing any “high-value target” but two intelligence officials in Miramshah said they had received reports from informers on the ground that those killed in the compound were all foreigners.

“We don’t know their exact identities but we were informed that there were foreigners inside that compound,” one intelligence official said.

Published in The Express Tribune, May 17^th, 2011.