US drone strike kills 13 in Saidgi village: security officials

A US missile attack that demolished a compound in Pakistan's tribal belt used by militants crossing into Afghanistan killed 13 fighters, Pakistani security officials said Sunday. A US drone slammed two missiles into the building on Saturday in Saidgi village, seven kilometres (four miles) north of Miranshah, the main town of North Waziristan tribal district bordering Afghanistan, officials said. "Taliban have recovered more dead bodies from the debris. We have reports that a total of 13 militants were killed and three injured," an intelligence official in Miranshah told AFP on condition of anonymity. "One of the local commanders, Abdur Rehman, was also killed," he added. The compound was used by local militants attached to the Haqqani network, which has attacked US troops in Afghanistan, said a senior security official. Other security officials confirmed 13 were killed in the strike, including a local commander, but it was unclear if any foreigners were among the dead. Mosques in Miranshah announced that Rehman was "martyred" in the strike and that his funeral prayers would be held in Saidgi, an AFP reporter said. At least three suspected US strikes in 10 days have struck North Waziristan, where Islamabad is under growing US pressure to take action against the Haqqani network and other extremists who infiltrate Afghanistan to attack.

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