A suspected US drone attack killed five people in northwest Pakistan yesterday, local intelligence officials said, the latest in a barrage of such strikes against al-Qaeda and Taliban militants that have long sought sanctuary in the region.
The missile or missiles struck a house in North Waziristan, the area that has seen the overwhelming majority of attacks over the last two months, said the officials, who did not give their names because the agency they work for does not allow its operatives to be identified.
The identities of those killed was not immediately known.
There have now been at least 21 suspected US missile strikes in Pakistan since the beginning of last month. There were 21 such attacks in September, nearly double the previous monthly record. The attacks are carried out by unmanned drones equipped with extremely high-powered video cameras.
North Waziristan is home to hundreds of Pakistani and foreign militants, many belonging to or allied with al-Qaeda and the Taliban. The region also hosts the Haqqani network, a powerful insurgent group that US officials say is behind many of the attacks on US and NATO forces in Afghanistan.
Also in northwest Pakistan, gunmen opened fire on tankers carrying fuel for NATO and US troops in Afghanistan, wounding a driver and his assistant, said police officer Nisar Khan. The attack happened close to the city of Peshawar, he said.
Several hundred trucks carrying fuel and non-lethal supplies to foreign forces cross into Afghanistan everyday.
Militants occasionally attack them, but the vast majority travel through unhampered. Last month, Islamabad closed one of the supply routes in protest at incursions by NATO helicopters into Pakistani airspace.
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