Deadly 'drone attack' in Pakistan

26/03/2009| IslamWeb

Pakistani intelligence officials say four people have been killed after a suspected US drone aircraft fired two missiles into a house in the North Waziristan region near the Afghan border.

The incident occurred early on Thursday outside the town of Mir Ali, they said.

"Two missiles fired from a suspected US drone hit the compound of a local tribal elder Malik Gulab Khan, killing four residents," a local security official told the AFP news agency.

It was the second suspected drone attack in the area in two days.

A missile believed to have been launched by an unmanned US drone killed at least seven suspected pro-Taliban fighters in South Waziristan on Wednesday, intelligence officials and Taliban sources said.

The US military does not confirm unmanned drone attacks but its forces and the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) in Afghanistan are the only agencies that use such aircraft in the region.

Reports from Pakistani officials, residents and fighters say around 30 attacks have killed more than 300 people since August 2008.

The Pakistani government has protested to Washington that drone strikes violate its territorial sovereignty, saying that the attacks are "counterproductive" as the civilian casualties they often inflict have boosted support for fighters in the area.

The US accuses Pakistan of not doing enough to crack down on fighters who cross the border to attack US and Nato troops in Afghanistan.

PHOTO CAPTION

Map locating North Waziristan in Pakistan where a suspected US drone attack killed at least four people

 

Al-Jazeera