...

US drone attack in Pakistan kills three

Other News Materials 9 December 2012 11:27 (UTC +04:00)

A US drone strike killed at least three suspected insurgents in Pakistan's tribal region on Sunday, a security official said.

The attack took place in the Tabi area near Miranshah, the main town of North Waziristan district bordering Afghanistan, according to the Pakistani official who did not want to be named, dpa reported.

"Four missiles struck a mud compound, killing three people," the official told dpa.

Confirmed details were not available and the death toll could also not be verified independently because the restive region is largely out of bounds for the media.

Senior figures of al-Qaeda and the Taliban, including its Haqqani network, are believed to be entrenched in North Waziristan, making the mountainous region a frequent target of Washington's drone campaign.

On Thursday, a top al-Qaeda leader, Abu Zaid al-Kuwaiti, and at least four others were killed when a pilotless aircraft struck their hideout some 20 kilometres from Miranshah.

Pakistan is highly critical of the US drone war, which it describes as illegal and counterproductive. But the armed drones have become a vital weapon for the United States in its counterinsurgency efforts in Afghanistan and along the country's border with Pakistan.

Latest

Latest