20 killed in US drone attack in Pakistan

ISLAMABAD - At least 20 suspected militants were killed Tuesday in the Ghulam Khan area of Pakistan’s northwestern tribal region when a US drone targeted a training camp of the banned Tehreek-i-Taliban militant outfit.

“The missiles fired from the US done hit the compound located near the border of Afghanistan, some 15 km from Miranshah, the main town of North Waziristan tribal agency,” Geo TV reported. “The death toll is expected to rise,” security officials were quoted as saying.

“After the attack, militants surrounded the destroyed compound and were searching through the rubble, while an excavator dug graves for the dead in a nearby cemetery,” local intelligence officials said.

This is probably one of the deadliest drone attacks in Pakistan.

DPA adds quoting an official that the area targeted by the aircraft is populated by the Mundeekhel sub tribe.

North Waziristan is a stronghold of the Haqqani militant group, which has been involved in cross border attacks in Afghanistan on NATO-led foreign troops. The US has been putting pressure on Pakistan to take action against the group, which is allied with the Taliban.

Pakistan publicly criticises the drone attacks, saying they cause resentment and increase support for militants, but its intelligence agencies are believed to cooperate in identifying the targets.

(Awais Saleem can be contacted at ians.pakistan@gmail.com)