Unmanned war: Drone kills seven in South Waziristan

Two Uzbek militants among the dead, says intelligence official

BANNU:

A US drone killed at least seven suspected militants in South Waziristan on Thursday, officials said, in the second such attack this year.

According to officials, the early morning strike took place in the Wocha Dara area of the tribal region’s Laddha village, which borders the Shawal area of North Waziristan. The drone, they said, launched two missiles at a suspected militant compound in the area, destroying most of it.

Security officials initially put the death toll from the strike at five. Three others were said to be wounded in the attack. Two of the injured succumbed to their injuries later, they added.

Although the identity of those killed in the strike could not be confirmed, sources said they included foreigners.

“Two Uzbek militants were killed in the drone strike,” a local intelligence official told AFP.

Sources said local residents did not try to rescue those present in the destroyed compound until roughly an hour after the strike as the US drone continued to hover over the area.

Thursday’s strike was the second drone attack to take place this year. A US drone killed at least six militants in the Datta Khel area of North Waziristan on January 4.

Recent drone attacks by the US have raised speculation that Washington and Islamabad are coordinating their military efforts.

The strikes had stopped for the first half of last year while the Pakistan government explored peace talks with the Taliban. They resumed a few days before the military launched an anti-Taliban offensive in June.

Pakistan, however, officially denounces the strikes as a violation of its sovereignty.

The latest strikes came after Pakistan ramped up its anti-terror strategy in the wake of the December 16 attack on the Army Public School in Peshawar that killed over 150 people, 134 of them children. The military had already launched major offensives against terrorists in North Waziristan and Khyber Agency. It claims some 1,700 militants have been killed so far in operations Zarb-e-Azb and Khyber-I, which began last year in June and October respectively.

Published in The Express Tribune, January 16^th, 2015.