Friday, January 23, 2009
PESHAWAR, Pakistan (Reuters) A suspected U.S. drone fired three missiles into Pakistan's North Waziristan region on the Afghan border on Friday, intelligence officials said, in the first such strike since Barack Obama became U.S. president.
"According to initial information, five militants including foreigners were killed," said one of the intelligence officials.
The missiles hit a house in a village 2 km (1 mile) west of the town of Mir Ali, the officials said.
"Three bodies have been retrieved but I fear there will be more under the rubble," Rehman Wazir, a villager at the site of the attack, told Reuters by telephone.
Frustrated over what it sees as Pakistan's failure to stem the flow of al Qaeda and Taliban militants from its lawless tribal regions into Afghanistan, the United States stepped up cross-border attacks last year.
It carried out about 30 attacks on suspected militants with missiles fired by pilotless drones in 2008, according to a Reuters tally, more than half after the beginning of September.
The attacks have killed more than 220 people, including foreign militants, according to a tally of reports from Pakistani intelligence agents, district government officials and residents.
Pakistan objects to the attacks, saying they are a violation of its territory and undermine its efforts to tackle militants.
It had hoped the new U.S. administration would review the policy although during his election campaign Obama had spoken of the possibility of strikes into Pakistan.
(Reporting by Alamgir Bitani; Editing by Robert Birsel and Sugita Katyal)
Archive picture of an American MQ-9 Reaper Hunter/Killer UAV:
PESHAWAR, Pakistan (Reuters) A suspected U.S. drone fired three missiles into Pakistan's North Waziristan region on the Afghan border on Friday, intelligence officials said, in the first such strike since Barack Obama became U.S. president.
"According to initial information, five militants including foreigners were killed," said one of the intelligence officials.
The missiles hit a house in a village 2 km (1 mile) west of the town of Mir Ali, the officials said.
"Three bodies have been retrieved but I fear there will be more under the rubble," Rehman Wazir, a villager at the site of the attack, told Reuters by telephone.
Frustrated over what it sees as Pakistan's failure to stem the flow of al Qaeda and Taliban militants from its lawless tribal regions into Afghanistan, the United States stepped up cross-border attacks last year.
It carried out about 30 attacks on suspected militants with missiles fired by pilotless drones in 2008, according to a Reuters tally, more than half after the beginning of September.
The attacks have killed more than 220 people, including foreign militants, according to a tally of reports from Pakistani intelligence agents, district government officials and residents.
Pakistan objects to the attacks, saying they are a violation of its territory and undermine its efforts to tackle militants.
It had hoped the new U.S. administration would review the policy although during his election campaign Obama had spoken of the possibility of strikes into Pakistan.
(Reporting by Alamgir Bitani; Editing by Robert Birsel and Sugita Katyal)
Archive picture of an American MQ-9 Reaper Hunter/Killer UAV:
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