South Waziristan: Drone kills 7, including Haqqani commander

Four foreigners also among the dead; FO condemns latest attack, reiterates call of immediate cessation of campaign

WANA/ ISLAMABAD:

A US drone strike killed at least seven militants, including an important commander of the Haqqani network, in South Waziristan on Thursday, security officials said.

The attack happened early in the morning in Beermal tehsil’s Nargasai village, which lies close to the border with Afghanistan and some 30 kilometres west of Wana, the main town of South Waziristan tribal region.



According to an official in Wana, the US drone launched two missiles at a compound in Nargasai village, killing its occupants. He initially put the death toll at five.

But other officials later said seven militants were killed in the strike. According to them and a militant source, four foreigners and an important commander from the Haqqani network were among those killed.

“At least seven militants were killed in the drone strike… the dead included four foreigners and a top Haqqani commander,” AFP quoted an intelligence official based in the area as saying as well. “Abdullah Haqqani (the commander) was responsible for sending suicide bombers to Afghanistan,” the official said.

Another official in Bannu confirmed the death toll and killing of the commander.

A source in a militant group said that a vehicle loaded with arms and ammunition was also destroyed in  the attack.

Hours after the development, Foreign Office (FO) Spokesperson Tasnim Aslam condemned the latest strike and reiterated Pakistan’s demand for the immediate cessation of the CIA-piloted campaign in its tribal areas.

“Pakistan has consistently maintained that such strikes are a violation of its sovereignty and territorial integrity. The government of Pakistan is itself taking decisive action against terrorist elements and therefore believes that such strikes are unnecessary and need to be stopped,” Tasnim told reporters at her weekly briefing in Islamabad.

She said Pakistan would continue to raise the issue of drone strikes at all levels with the US.

“Naturally, the United States has its own position which is not backed by international law and now the international public opinion,” the spokesperson added.

Published in The Express Tribune, October 31^st, 2014.