Pakistan: Drone attack kills five suspected militants

Islamabad: At least five suspected militants, including what sources claim to be a high value target, were killed in a US drone attack in Pakistan’s North Waziristan region on Thursday, media reported. According to officials, the drone fired two missiles on a compound in the Dattakhel tehsil of the North Waziristan agency, Dawn online reported. Some people were also injured in the attack, the sources said. [caption id=“attachment_1814841” align=“alignleft” width=“380” class=" “]  U.S. Air Force B-1. Reuters[/caption] North Waziristan is part of Pakistan’s Federally Administered Tribal Areas (FATA) and is one of the seven tribal areas near the Afghan border, which are known as “agencies” in Pakistan, and are rife with insurgent activities and alleged to be the strongholds of Taliban and Al Qaeda operatives, among others. Pakistan’s military in mid-June, had launched an all-out operation, named ‘Zarb-i-Azb’, against various militant groups in the region, which is still under way. According to the report, drone attacks are widely unpopular across Pakistan. In this connection, the report mentions a survey conducted in June this year, which found that 66 percent of the country’s citizens opposed these strikes. IANS