Drone targets house in North Waziristan

A US drone has fired two missiles at a house in the Mir Ali area of Miranshah, the main town of North Waziristan.


Afp/express October 07, 2010

A US drone has fired two missiles at a house in the Mir Ali area of Miranshah, the main town of North Waziristan.

There are no reports of casualties as yet, but many are feared.

Earlier in the day Foreign Office said that the United States should change its policy on drone strikes inside Pakistan.

Speaking to a news briefing, Foreign Office spokesperson Abdul Basit said drone attacks violate Pakistan’s sovereignty and the US should change its policy regarding these strikes.

The Foreign Office denied that there was any agreement between Pakistan and the US which permits America to carry out strikes in the country.

He also said that Pakistan has repeatedly objected to the attacks on its soil terming them counter-productive.

On Wednesday, two US missile strikes killed at least nine people in North Waziristan.

Drone attacks reached unprecedented levels this month.  Since US President Barack Obama came into office, there have been more than 143 drone attacks, with about 58 strikes in 2009 (after January 20) and around 85 in 2010.

Drone attacks have stoked anti-American sentiment in the country with many saying they violate Pakistan's sovereignty.

Pakistan denies reports about British-origin militant dying in drone strike

Meanwhile, Pakistani security officials have rejected a report claiming that a British-origin Pakistani militant tasked with attacks in Europe died in a US drone strike last month.

British media reports identifying the militant as Abdul Jabbar said he was being groomed to head a new al Qaeda splinter group in Britain that planned to launch terror attacks on Europe.

"I have no knowledge of any such militant. No one with this name existed and I will say no one of British origin died in recent drone attack," a senior security official at Islamabad told AFP.

Another intelligence official clarified that an Egyptian national, Abdul Latif, was reportedly killed in a drone attack last month but said no one of British origin was killed.

The United States has massively ramped up its drone campaign in Pakistan's lawless northwest tribal region on the Afghan border, amid intelligence claims of a Mumbai-style terror plot to launch commando attacks on European cities.

The plot was reportedly caught in its early planning stages, according to media reports.

COMMENTS (6)

Nageen | 13 years ago | Reply I second Anoop's opinion
Anoop | 13 years ago | Reply If Pakistan objects why doesn't it shoot down the drone? After all they are pilotless. The loss would be financial? Answer: The Pakistani army is in on it. Protests are for the gallery. FO stuck between a rock and a hard place. It is forced to comment upon things it has no control over: It has no jurisdiction over military affairs anyway.
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