The Hindu Business Line : Suspected US Drone attack kills five in Pakistan

ISLAMABAD: In a second attack in less than 24 hours, a US drone carried out a missile strike against a suspected Taliban hideout in North Waziristan in NWFP on Thursday killing five militants and injuring four others.

The drone fired two missiles at the home of a tribesman named Malik Gulab Khan at a village in Mirali sub-district of North Waziristan Agency, witnesses and local officials said. Local residents said at least five persons were killed in the attack that o ccurred after midnight. Taliban militants surrounded the home that was attacked and prevented people from approaching the area.

Seven foreign militants, all suspected to be from al-Qaeda, were killed in the attack by a US drone yesterday in the nearby South Waziristan tribal region, a stronghold of Pakistani Taliban commander Baitullah Mehsud.

Pakistan's tribal belt has witnessed dozens of drone attacks since the middle of last year. Several top Taliban and al-Qaeda operatives have been killed in these attacks. Islamabad has strongly opposed the drone attacks, describing them as a violation o f the country's sovereignty and counter-productive for the war on terror.

But US officials have made it clear that drone attack would continue. Today's attack was the eighth missile strike carried out by US drones in the tribal belt since President Barack Obama took office. - PTI

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