US drone strikes kill 13 in Pakistan

ISLAMABAD - At least 13 people, including nine militants, were killed in two US drone attacks in northwest Pakistan Sunday, a media report said.

The strikes took place in the North Waziristan tribal area of the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province.

A drone fired five missiles at a vehicle in the Zarmada Khel area of North Waziristan, killing four people, Dunya TV reported.

A house, suspected to be a hideout of the militants, was also attacked in the Saragai area with missiles, killing at least nine militants, it said.

“The US drones are expected to have taken out some high-profile targets in this attack,” the report said without naming the victims.

The strikes were carried out based on the intelligence reports given by the Pakistani security forces.

There has been a sudden upsurge in the drone attacks in Pakistan’s tribal areas in the last couple of months.

Hundreds of suspected terrorists have been killed since 2004 in such attacks, including former Taliban chief Baitullah Mehsud, in connection with the ongoing war on terror in Afghanistan and northwest Pakistan.