A US drone fired two missiles into an Al-Qa’ida hideout in Pakistan’s tribal belt, killing 11 militants in a district on the Afghan border.
The strike took place today in Inzarabad village, 25 kilometres east of Miranshah, the main town in the district of North Waziristan, known as a hub of Taliban and Al-Qa’ida linked militants.
“Missiles fired from a US drone struck a militant compound in the village, killing at least 11 rebels and wounding three others,” a senior Pakistani security official in the area told AFP on condition of anonymity.
Another security official confirmed the strike and casualties, but warned the death toll could rise. The nationalities of the dead were not immediately clear, nor was it known whether they included any high-value targets, he said.
It was the first US drone attack reported since twin strikes 12 hours apart killed 14 militants east of Miranshah on June 11.
US forces have been waging a covert drone war against Taliban and Al-Qa’ida-linked commanders in Pakistan’s northwest tribal belt, where militants have carved out havens in mountains outside direct government control.
The US military does not, as a rule, confirm drone attacks, but its armed forces and the Central Intelligence Agency operating in Afghanistan are the only forces that deploy pilotless drones in the region.
More than 900 people have been killed in over 100 drone strikes in Pakistan since August 2008.
Washington has branded Pakistan’s northwestern tribal area a global headquarters of Al-Qa’ida and officials say it is home to Islamist extremists who plan attacks on US-led troops in Afghanistan and on cities abroad.
Waziristan came under renewed scrutiny when Faisal Shahzad, the Pakistani-American charged over an attempted bombing in New York on May 1, allegedly told US interrogators he went there for bomb training.
The United States has been increasing pressure on Pakistan to crack down on Islamist havens along the Afghan border.
Pakistani commanders have not ruled out an offensive in North Waziristan, but argue that gains in South Waziristan and the northwestern district of Swat need to be consolidated to prevent their troops from being stretched too thin.
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