| Two US drone strikes kill six militants in N. Waziristan |
MIRANSHAH Two US drone strikes on Sunday killed at least six militants in a restive Pakistani tribal region near the Afghan border, security officials said.
That made it three missile attacks in two days in Shawal district, in North Waziristan, after six militants were also killed there on Saturday.
“At least two militants were killed and two others wounded when a US drone fired two missiles at the site of this morning’s attack, where militants were removing the wreckage of their two destroyed vehicles,” a security official said.
Another security official confirmed the latest attack and casualties. A drone strike earlier on Sunday killed four militants, officials said.
The latest strikes came amid reports of a thaw in Pakistan’s generally deteriorating ties with the US following a visit to Washington by Pakistan’s spymaster, Lieutenant General Zaheer ul Islam, earlier this month.
Islam’s talks with his CIA counterpart were said to have focused on drone strikes.
Attacks by unmanned American aircraft are deeply unpopular in Pakistan, which says they violate its sovereignty and fan anti-US sentiment, but US officials are said to believe the attacks are too important to give up.
The latest attacks were in the same region where a drone strike on June 4 killed 15 militants including senior Al Qaeda figure Abu Yahya Al Libi.
In protest at the drone attacks, a Taliban and Pakistani warlord, Hafiz Gul Bahadur, has banned vaccinations in North and South Waziristan, putting 240,000 children in the region at risk.
He has condemned the immunisation campaign as a cover for espionage.
Agencies
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