Two Arab fighters among seven killed
WANA: Seven persons, suspected to be militants, were killed and two others injured when a US drone targeted a house in the Azam Warsak area of South Waziristan Agency on Thursday.
Local residents and government officials said the drone fired two missiles and targeted a house where, according to the villagers, some local and foreign militants had been residing for some time.
The villagers said five people, including two Arab fighters, were initially killed on the spot and four others sustained injuries. Their bodies were later retrieved from the debris of the house that collapsed and caught fire soon after being hit by the missiles. Two of the injured also succumbed to their injuries, the locals said.
Also, some of the villagers said they were told that an Arab commander was among the five people killed in the drone attack.The foreign fighters had reportedly shifted to South Waziristan from the adjoining North Waziristan after the security forces launched a military operation against the militants on June 15 this year. Military officials have stated that more than 1,100 militants had been killed during the military operation in North Waziristan.
The residents said that two other militants who suffered injuries in the missile attack were taken to a private clinic in the Azam Warsak village near Wana, the administrative headquarters of South Waziristan, where they were stated to be in critical condition.
Some foreign media organisations had reported that a senior member of the Haqqani network was also killed in the drone strike. However, the Taliban and tribal sources as well as government officials denied the report. “Those killed and injured were Arabs and fighters belonging to the Ahmadzai Wazir Taliban,” said a local Taliban commander in Wana.
There was no immediate information about the identity of those killed and injured in the drone strike. The government has signed a peace accord with the local Taliban, headed by Bahawal Khan, also known as commander Salahuddin Ayubi. Both sides promised not to attack each other.
APP adds from Islamabad: Pakistan strongly condemned the drone attack in South Waziristan and said that such attacks are a violation of Pakistan’s sovereignty and territorial integrity.The Foreign Office spokesperson Tasnim Aslam in her weekly briefing said Pakistan has consistently maintained that these strikes amount to violation of its sovereignty.
She pointed out that Pakistan is already taking decisive action against the terrorist elements, therefore, these strikes are unnecessary and should be stopped.The spokesperson said Pakistan always discussed the issue of drone attacks with the United Sates at all levels.
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