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Deaths in Pakistan drone attack

14 August 2010 22:51 (UTC +04:00)

Baku-APA. At least 13 people have been killed in a suspected US missile strike on a compound in Pakistan’s North Waziristan district, close to the Afghan border, APA reports quoting aljazra.net website.
At least five other people were wounded in the strike on Saturday in Essori, a village 20km east of Miranshah, the main town in the tribal district, local officials said.
"One missile fired from a US drone struck a militant compound in the village, killing at least 13 rebels, many among them foreigners," a senior Pakistani security official in the area told the AFP news agency on condition of anonymity.
He said that the strike occurred during the evening Ramadan prayers.
"It is also not yet clear if there was any high value target present in the area at the time of attack," he added.
Another intelligence official said there were five foreigners among the slain fighters, but their nationalities could not be immediately confirmed.
The United States has intensified missile strikes using pilotless drone aircrafts
in Pakistan’s northwest tribal in an effort to halt violence in Afghanistan, which US officials say comes from fighters on the Pakistani side.
US drone strikes are unpopular in Pakistan and the government in Islamabad has repeatedly urged Washington to end them.
Pakistan says the attacks kill civilians, stoking resentment among the local population and thus proving to be counter-productive in the battle against armed groups.
The attacks also undermine Pakistani sovereignty, Islamabad says.
But the US has persisted with the drone attacks, saying they are effective means to deal with Taliban and al-Qaeda fighters operating in Pakistan’s border areas with Afghanistan.