Tuesday, May 17, 2011

US drone strikes kill 12 in north-western Pakistan

M&C News, May 16, 2011,

  Islamabad – A US unmanned drone on Monday fired four missiles into Pakistan’s tribal region along Afghan border, killing a dozen people, intelligence officials said.
 
The attack took place in North Waziristan district, a known stronghold of Taliban and al-Qaeda militants.

An intelligence official said that the two missiles destroyed a vehicle and two more hit a compound in Khushali area of the district.

‘According to the reports we have received four people died in the attack on vehicle while eight were killed in the compound,’ said the official who spoke on condition of anonymity.
The identity of those killed was not immediately known.

The missile attack came as US Senate Foreign Relations Committee chairman John Kerry was visiting Islamabad to repair the relations strained by American special forces’ raid that killed al-Qaeda chief Osama bin Laden in Pakistan’s north-western city of Abbottabad on May 2.
That operation, which many Pakistanis saw as a violation of the country’s sovereignty, has put pressure on Islamabad to review cooperation with US against terrorism.

Pakistani parliament over the weekend passed a resolution asking the government to take strong measures to stop US drone campaign, which Washington sees vital for eliminating militants bases in lawless tribal region.

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