US Drone Strike Kills 17 in Pakistan

Local Editor

A US drone attack struck a compound in Pakistan's northwestern tribal belt early Wednesday, killing at least 17 militants, Pakistani officials said.

Security officials stated that Afghan and Pakistani militants were among the dead at the compound in the town of Miranshah, but that there was no immediate confirmation of any high-value target.

Unmanned aircraft fired four missiles into the compound in the main market area of the main town of North Waziristan district.
"The death toll in drone strike has risen to 17," a security official stated.
Intelligence officials confirmed the toll and said the compound belonged to militants from the Haqqani network, which the United States has blamed for some of the deadliest and most high-profile attacks on Western and government targets in Afghanistan.

It was the deadliest US drone strike reported in Pakistan since 18 people were killed on the border between North Waziristan and the tribal district of Orakzai on October 11, 2012.

Pakistan on Wednesday condemned the drone strike as a violation of sovereignty, as it does routinely.
"The government of Pakistan has consistently maintained that drone strikes are counter-productive, entail loss of innocent civilian lives and have human rights and humanitarian implications," the foreign ministry said in a statement.

But there has been a marked decline in the number of drone strikes reported in Pakistan in the last two years.

Source: News Agencies, Edited by website team