A day after Pakistan formally protested to the United States over a string of “unlawful” drone strikes in its tribal regions, remotely-piloted aircraft carried out three sorties in North Waziristan Agency, killing over a dozen people.
Security officials confirmed to The Express Tribune that at least 16 suspected militants, including foreigners, were killed and 14 others wounded in three drone attacks in different locations of Shawal tehsil.
US drones fired a total of six missiles, two each on three separate compounds in the Dre Neshther (Mankai Gher), Thunda Dhera and Lawara Panga areas, one official said. “At least 15 suspected militants were killed in these strikes,” he added.
Another official confirmed the death toll to AFP and said it may rise further as more details of the attack emerged.
A resident of Shawal told The Express Tribune that they saw four to six pilotless aircraft flying overhead at the time of the attacks. Officials said the compounds targeted were used by militants belonging to the Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP), Haqqani Network and Hafiz Gul Bahadur group.
A third security official confirmed the strikes and said the identities of the dead were not immediately clear.
“We are gradually getting information from the area of the new strikes, which is mountainous and covered by thick forest,” he said.
At least 30 people have been killed in seven drone strikes since the start of Eid on Saturday, and all of them took place in the Shawal region, which is some 60 kilometres from Miramshah – the main town in North Waziristan.
The latest strike came a day after US diplomat was summoned to the Foreign Office to formally protest the surge in drone attacks. (With additional input from AFP)
Published in The Express Tribune, August 25th, 2012.
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@g: Dear g, You have suggested that Haqqanis have killed many more people than the US would in a century. I would be interested to know where you derived your statistics from. America at best only gives out inaccurate figures, but in the eleven years since the US moved into the middle-east through to South Asia the number of deaths, mainly innocents, has been considerable. However, using inferential statistics it is estimated that several million are now dead or seriously injured as a result of American invasions of unaligned countries who were not harming America. If anybody has any doubts they should look up UN figures.
Apparently the target has been Badruddin Haqqani and it looks like they may have gotten him. (http://www.longwarjournal.org/archives/2012/08/badruddinhaqqaniru.php) We should have know we were getting close when Pakistan summoned the US representative to the foreign office. The Pakistani support for the Haqqanis proves they are no ally and that they are shortsighted and foolish in dealing with these terrorists that violate Pak sovereignty and kill more innocents and Pak military in a year than the US and ISAF would ever kill in a century.
They kill innocent people such as shias and the curse of Allah is upon them in the form of drone attacks!