Drone strike kills four suspected militants in North Waziristan
The remotely piloted aircraft targeted an abandoned girls' high school building used by militants in Miranshah.
PESHAWAR/ISLAMABAD:
A US drone strike killed four suspected militants in North Waziristan tribal on Sunday, intelligence officials and witnesses said, the first strike in almost a month.
The remotely piloted aircraft targeted an abandoned girls' high school building used by militants in Miranshah, the main town in North Waziristan, the officials and witnesses said. Three militants were wounded.
"We intercepted internal conversation of the militants asking for arranging four coffins for the slain men in the drone attack. We don't know about their identity and nationality but those living in the girls' school were mostly Arabs," a security official said.
A local resident, Haji Niamat Khan, said more than two dozen militants were living in the school when it was attacked.
The last drone strike, on March 30, killed four suspected militants and wounded three in the same town of Miranshah, a known hotbed for Pakistan Taliban and foreign militants.
The strikes are a major stumbling block in restoring ties with Washington, badly frayed after an inadvertent cross-border attack by Nato aircraft on November 26 last year killed 24 Pakistani troops.
The United States says the strikes in Pakistan's unruly northwestern tribal regions are very accurate and there is minimal collateral damage.
In a recent interview, Foreign Minister Hina Rabbani Khar said that although Pakistan had demanded an immediate cessation of drone attacks, the US has not complied.
Imran Khan condemns drone strike
While condemning the recent drone strike, Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf (PTI) Chairman Imran Khan called upon the government to respond to this assault in accordance to the parliamentary resolutions against drone attacks.
“Drone attacks are a violation of the international law and Pakistan’s sovereignty. We have to get out of this so-called war on terror, which has killed over 40,000 Pakistanis. This war is not our war and it is destroying the very fabric of the country,” Khan stressed.
A US drone strike killed four suspected militants in North Waziristan tribal on Sunday, intelligence officials and witnesses said, the first strike in almost a month.
The remotely piloted aircraft targeted an abandoned girls' high school building used by militants in Miranshah, the main town in North Waziristan, the officials and witnesses said. Three militants were wounded.
"We intercepted internal conversation of the militants asking for arranging four coffins for the slain men in the drone attack. We don't know about their identity and nationality but those living in the girls' school were mostly Arabs," a security official said.
A local resident, Haji Niamat Khan, said more than two dozen militants were living in the school when it was attacked.
The last drone strike, on March 30, killed four suspected militants and wounded three in the same town of Miranshah, a known hotbed for Pakistan Taliban and foreign militants.
The strikes are a major stumbling block in restoring ties with Washington, badly frayed after an inadvertent cross-border attack by Nato aircraft on November 26 last year killed 24 Pakistani troops.
The United States says the strikes in Pakistan's unruly northwestern tribal regions are very accurate and there is minimal collateral damage.
In a recent interview, Foreign Minister Hina Rabbani Khar said that although Pakistan had demanded an immediate cessation of drone attacks, the US has not complied.
Imran Khan condemns drone strike
While condemning the recent drone strike, Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf (PTI) Chairman Imran Khan called upon the government to respond to this assault in accordance to the parliamentary resolutions against drone attacks.
“Drone attacks are a violation of the international law and Pakistan’s sovereignty. We have to get out of this so-called war on terror, which has killed over 40,000 Pakistanis. This war is not our war and it is destroying the very fabric of the country,” Khan stressed.