A US drone launched a missile attack on a militant compound in Pakistan’s northwestern tribal region near the Afghan border early yesterday, killing four insurgents, security officials said.
The missiles targeted a house in a market area of Miranshah, the main town in North Waziristan, known as a stronghold of Taliban and al-Qaeda-linked militants, they said.
“Two missiles hit a house and four militants were killed,” a security official said. “The attack took place at about 3am.”
Witnesses said the attack triggered a fire which destroyed the building.
The compound was located in the money changers’ market in the commercial district.
An intelligence official also put the toll at four dead and said two people were wounded. He said local people, including Pakistani Taliban, were engaged in rescue work.
Officials said the identity of the dead militants was not immediately known.
A reporter said armed men, covering their faces with scarves, were seen collecting belongings, including blood stained clothes and documents, from the rubble. Militants ringed the area and barred entry to the house.
The blast destroyed five shops, including a bakery, three grocery shops and a telephone kiosk.
“I was sleeping in my home when a deafening sound woke me up,” resident Yousuf Khan said.
“Fearing that my house has been attacked, I peeped out of my window and saw flames raging from the building facing my house. Two men holding Kalashnikov rifles warned me to go inside. I shut the window and went to sleep,” he said.
Waziristan is the most notorious militant stronghold in Pakistan’s semi-autonomous northwestern tribal belt. Washington considers it the premier hub for Taliban and al-Qaeda to plot attacks on the West and in Afghanistan.
Pakistan wants drone strikes to stop, arguing that they are counter-productive because they kill civilians, exacerbate anti-US sentiment and violate sovereignty.
The frequency of such attacks has diminished in recent months, but US officials are believed to consider them too useful to discontinue the strikes altogether.
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