PESHAWAR - At least seven suspected Taliban militants were killed and three others sustained injuries in a US drone strike in South Waziristan Agency on Thursday.
Sources said a pilotless aircraft fired at least two missiles on a house in Wacha Darra area of tehsil Laddha of the agency, killing seven suspected militants and injuring three others.
Wacha Darra, is situated just on the border with the Shawal area of North Waziristan. The source said that the compound was destroyed completely in the strike. After targeting Taliban compound, the drone hovered over the area for about half an hour. The sources said that two among the dead were stated to be Uzbek national. Pakistan army has launched a massive operation Zar-e-Azb against local and foreign militants in North Waziristan.
It is the second drone strike in Pakistan in 2015. To date, at least 17 suspected militant have reportedly been killed in such strikes since the start of the year. Drone strikes in Pakistan stopped for the first six months last year while the government held peace talks with the Tehreek-e-Taliban. But the talks failed and the strikes resumed days before the military announced a major anti-Taliban offensive in North Waziristan on June 15, 2014.
Security forces have stepped up operations against the Taliban in response to a December 16 school massacre in which more than 130 children were killed, but details of its efforts are sketchy as independent journalists are not allowed in North Waziristan. US drone strikes are deeply unpopular in Pakistan and the government is officially against them, even though many senior TTP commanders have been killed in such attacks in past years.
AFP adds: Recent drone attacks by the US have raised speculation that Washington and Islamabad are coordinating their military efforts.
“Two Uzbek and three local militants were killed in the drone strike,” a local intelligence official said. The area is generally off-limits to journalists, making it difficult to independently verify the number and identity of the dead.
The latest strikes came after Pakistan ramped up its anti-terror strategy in the wake of a December 16 attack. Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif has announced the establishment of military courts for terror-related cases in order to accelerate trials, and the premier has also lifted a six-year moratorium on the death penalty, reinstating it for terrorism-related cases.