Drone strike kills five in North Waziristan

MIRAMSHAH: A US drone fired two missiles at a suspected militant compound in North Waziristan on Wednesday, killing five people, security officials said.

One missile hit a house in the Tappi area about 20 kilometres east of Miramshah, the main town in North Waziristan Agency. The other hit a vehicle parked outside, they said.

One security official in Peshawar said the target was a militant compound and those killed were insurgents.

“It was a militant compound being used to store arms and ammunition,” he said, requesting anonymity.

“Three militants were killed. The casualties were not high because there [were] not many militants inside.”

Locals, however, gave conflicting reports of the damages incurred by the strike. A few locals claimed that an aged woman was killed in attack. Others said three cows, meant for sacrifice on Eidul Azha being celebrated in the tribal region on Friday, were also killed in the attack. Wednesday’s strike was the third by unmanned US aircraft in the Miramshah area this month. 

Published in The Express Tribune, October 25^th, 2012.