Thaindian News

Miranshah, Oct 14 (ANI): Eight militants, including four foreign nationals, were killed in a US drone strike in Pakistan’s North Waziristan region, officials said.

According to an official, three missiles were fired at a house in the Datta Khel area yesterday evening, which killed five terrorists, including the foreigners, the BBC reported.

Three others lost their lives when just a few minutes later, a car parked outside the house was hit.

The foreigners were said to be from Turkmenistan, and members of the Islamic Movement of Uzbekistan (IMU).

Local tribesmen disclosed that Taliban militants took away the dead and injured.

The dead are said to be Taliban militants loyal to Hafiz Gul Bahadur - the group’s main commander in the area.

Datta Khel, about 30km (19 miles) from North Waziristan main town of Miranshah, is considered a safe haven for al-Qaeda.

The CIA launched at least 20 drone attacks, killing around 120 people in Pakistan in September, the highest number of attacks during a single month, and more than twice the number in a typical month.

Beyond the CIA drone strikes, the war along the Af-Pak border region is escalating in other ways as well, as three ISAF air strikes in Pakistani territory killed more than 50 suspected members of the Haqqani network, according to an estimate by US military officials. Pakistani officials have criticised the attacks, saying that NATO’s mandate is to carry out attacks only in Afghanistan.

But the CIA’s campaign has also raised concerns that the drone strikes are fuelling anger in the Muslim world. The Times Square bomber told a judge that the CIA drone campaign was one of the factors that led him to attack the Americans. (ANI)