CNN: First suspected drone strike in Pakistan since bin Laden raid; 12 dead

From Nasir Habib, CNN, May 6, 2011

 

Friday’s suspected drone strike (file photo) was the 21st this year compared to 111 in all of 2010.

 

STORY HIGHLIGHTS

• The operation took place in North Waziristan
• Drone strikes have been controversial in Pakistan
• One politician warned of disrupting NATO supply route

Islamabad, Pakistan (CNN) — A suspected U.S. drone struck and killed targets in Pakistan’s tribal region Friday, the first such attack since American troops killed al Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden north of Islamabad earlier this week.

Two Pakistani intelligence officials told CNN that 12 suspected militants were killed in the assault in the Data Khel region of North Waziristan, one of the seven districts of Pakistan’s volatile tribal region bordering Afghanistan.
The drone, an unmanned aircraft, attacked a militant hideout and a vehicle carrying militants.
The U.S. operation targeting bin Laden intensified discord and highlighted the mistrust between Pakistan and the United States, which did not inform the Pakistanis of the raid in the military garrison town of Abbottabad.

Before that dramatic operation, many Pakistanis had been particularly displeased with the controversial practice of targeting militants with unmanned aircraft because civilians have died in the operations.

Last month, 44 people were killed in a drone strike in Pakistan’s tribal region and the government of Pakistan formally asked the U.S. government for an apology.

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